Love Again
by Cornelialovecaleb
Summary: This is a story about Zack and Tifa. Zack is back alive again, and he arrives Tifa's bar. I don't own the characters.they belong to Square Enix
1. Chapter 1

Type of history: Final Fantasy 7  
Pairings: Tifa X Zack  
Cloud Strife, Zack Fair and Tifa Lockhart and the other FF7 characters are (C) to square enix.  
Story written by: Siren Helene G.  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story, even if I used a lot of time on it to make it!

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Chapter: 1  
Love again

Tifa stared out her window, Cloud hadn't called her for a while now. The last time she had seen him, was when he was on his way with a new delivery. She dried the dishes, in her bar. The rain was poring down outside. Who knew, was Zack really dead? Or had he tricked them? She could never know with that guy. Her thoughts were jolted away when their phone rang. The brunette walked up the stairs and picked up the phone.

"Strife delivery service…" she muttered and waited for someone to answer, but no one was there, all she could hear, was the rain outside. She felt panic, was it Cloud? Had something happen to him? She froze, why didn't she get an answer? What was going on anyway?

"hello?" she tried again, but she still couldn't get any answers. The panic turned from panic to something more annoying for her. Who the hell could call someone, and then start acting like a kid with not saying anything? She rolled her eyes and hang up. She laid the phone back on their desk, and sighted. Someone with a bad sense of humour had just called her; she crossed her arms and went down to her bar again. Her black skirt flew behind her when she walked. Her only problem left was the fact that she had no idea who it was that just had been joking with her. Their phone started to ring, again. She sighted and tried so hard to ignore it, but she couldn't. Tifa dried her hands at the rag, and once again she went up the stairs and answered the call.

"you know… I don't find this funny anymore!" she hissed like a annoyed cat, but was surprised over hearing someone in the other end this time. Tifa smiled and stared out the window, she knew who it was who tried to call her, it was Yuffie, off course it was her! it was her sense of humour.

"okay… I think I should call you another day then" Yuffie muttered and after that it was a long pause. Tifa started thinking, wait, wasn't it Yuffie that had called her from the start? Then who was their first caller?

"uh… okay… eh, Yuffie, did you call me for like five minutes ago?" Tifa wondered while she bit her lower lip. There was a pause again, and Tifa felt her heart go faster and faster. Then Yuffie started laughing.

"I'm calling you now, aren't I? And to answer your question, no, I haven't called you before… why?" Yuffie grinned, while Tifa rolled her eyes again.

"just wondered, don't worry! I bet the first one called the wrong number" Tifa tried to convince herself about that too, but it didn't work, at all. Yuffie understood it, and sighted loud in the other end.

"Cloud hasn't called you back yet?" Yuffie wondered, and Tifa shook her head, even if she knew that Yuffie couldn't see her.

"He has been gone for two weeks now…" Tifa muttered and rolled her eyes again. Then she remembered that it was Yuffie that had called her. She forgot Cloud and all the other boys for a while.

"I'm sure he'll return soon… he's a royal pain in the ass you know…" Yuffie laughed and Tifa had to laugh a bit too. Yuffie was right, sometimes.

"Cloud is Cloud, but seriously, why did you call?" Tifa chuckled and sat herself down on a chair. Yuffie was quiet for a while. She didn't answer.

"Don't know, I just wanted to talk, I guess... But I have to go… I'll call you again another time…" Yuffie muttered and hang up. Tifa sighted and went down to her bar, again. She stopped in the stairs when she saw a new motorcycle, one she hadn't seen before. She went outside and scanned the motorcycle with her eyes. She had never seen it before, and thought that maybe Cloud was home again. The rain had finally stopped, and the sun was rising up from nowhere.

Zack smirked when he saw Tifa around the corner, he walked silent behind her and stopped next to her.

"Heya! what? You like it?" Zack laughed when he saw the expression on the girls face. There he stood, in front of her with his arms crossed. She tumbled a few steps backwards and gasped when she saw Zack with her own eyes.

"Z-Zack? What are you doing here?" she gulped and looked at Zack with widened eyes; he raised one of his eyebrows and laughed.

"what? Aren't you glad to see me?" he laughed and pushed Tifa friendly in her shoulder. She bit her lower lip and looked at him. Her perfect eyes staring at her made her blush; she looked at her shoes and tried to cover her face with her forehead hair.

"Off course I am… but I thought you died!" she smirked and swept away her forehead hair from her eyes. He sighted and stared at the girl in front of him.

"so thought I, but I was in a coma… " his voice was lower this time, and his head hang down. Tifa's brown eyes stared at him; she could see that he didn't want to talk about it. So she tried to change the subject, but she had no idea what she could talk about with a guy Tifa had thought was dead. Or… everyone had told her he was dead. This time she lowered her head, she remembered the things she had said to him before he… before she thought he was dead. The girl had told him that she hated him, but she was angry, and didn't really mean what she had said.

"Hey… Zack! " she started but paused, she could see that she had got his fully attention. She bit her lower lip again before she continued, and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for telling you that I hated you… I didn't really mean it… I don't hate you, Zack! And then you were dying and I was afraid that I never would get a chance to say I'm sorry to you in person! " she mumbled and saw that he had tears in his eyes, but he blinked them away. He smiled to Tifa.

"Hey, Tifa! Its okay, you know… I know you were angry, but you were also right… everything you said was right… but I'm glad for your apology, and you're forgiven…" he said it while he stared into her brown eyes, and she smiled back to him.

"you can come into my bar… if you want to…" she muttered and stared at Zack. He nodded and followed the girl into her bar. His eyes scanned the grey walls in her bar. He looked at all the pictures that hang on the wall. The lights from the roof reflected in their hair, and Zack stole a glance or two of Tifa when she wasn't looking. The bar was free from dust, and it seemed like the time stood still, the shiny plates in her bar reflected by the sunlight that came through the windows. The chair and tables in **7****th**** heaven** was well treated for sure, and clean as well. The whole thing made Zack gasp, and Tifa turned around and smiled to him.

"you're not in the middle of something… are you?" Zack wondered as he touched one of the shiny plates and it tickled under his palm. Tifa stared at him again and grinned.

"No, you came at a perfect time… I could need some company I guess… " she sighted and looked at the boy in her bar. His curiosity and excitement made her grin even more. He looked at her again and grinned back.

"Guess my timing is perfect then…" he laughed and stared at the stairs in front of them. She nodded and was on her way up the stairs, and Zack followed her. They come into the room that looked like a bedroom. It was two beds there, in medium size. Zack sat himself on one of them, he stared out the window. He let his hand slide over the red blanket on the bed. Tifa stood in front of him, but she sat herself down at the bed next to him after a while. Her chocolate brown hair fell down in her face. Zack's face turned into a grin when he saw a picture of Tifa, Cloud and two kids on the bed where Tifa was sitting.

"is Cloud your boyfriend?" Zack wondered while he saw the picture, Tifa's attention was on Zack. She lifted the picture up and glared at it. She shook her head and laughed.

"No, he's not my boyfriend… he's my best friend… I decided to be more away from him after Aerith confessed her feelings for him… I mean… they were as created for each other; she was the first one that made him smile… " she looked away from Zack, but he still stared at her. The girl raised herself up from the bed and went over to the window. She stared blankly out of it, Zack stayed quiet for a while, he remembered Aerith… and he knew about her feelings for Cloud, if Tifa could stay away from Cloud, so could Zack stay away from Aerith.

"So… are you hungry?" Zack stared at Tifa with hope in his eyes, he was starving, and he hoped that they could go out and order some food. It took awhile before Tifa answered him, she was thinking on Cloud. Tifa turned around and stared on the guy in front of her.

"yes, we could go out and order something… I'm hungry as well…" Zack's face lighted up, and Tifa grinned. Zack went away from the bed, and followed Tifa out of her bar. He went over to his new motorcycle, while Tifa stared at Zack and his motorcycle. Zack waved his hand as a sign that she should come, but she didn't.

"Oh, gods Tifa! You know me! I don't bite… at least not so hard" he laughed and patted on the spot behind him. The girl walked over to the motorcycle, and sat herself behind Zack. He held him around his waist. And then he drove off to the motor road. His dark hair flew in the air, and mixed itself together with Tifa's brown forehead hair. Tifa's feelings was mixed, she had always been on Cloud's motorcycle, but never on Zack's.

"Where's Cloud anyway?" Zack muttered, as he drove the motorcycle. Tifa was quiet for a while.  
Cloud… he was on a delivery, and that had been his excuse almost every time he had been home for a while. Tifa felt that Cloud hadn't been there for them lately, but she knew that Zack would say the same as she thought if she says it loud to him.

"He's out on a delivery… he hasn't been here for a while… like two weeks or something." She muttered sadly, and Zack's eyes widened. Tifa smiled when she saw Zack's expression, it looked funny. The brunette girl looked away from Zack, and stared on her shoes. The black haired boy shook his head and sighted. Cloud, Cloud, Cloud… delivery didn't sound like Zack, but it that was what Cloud liked…

"Still he has no reason for being away from you, Denzel and Marlene!" the noise from his motorcycle made it difficult to hear something, and Tifa didn't hear a word of what Zack was telling her. She raised one of her eyebrows, and her brown eyes glittered in the sun.

"what did you say? I couldn't hear you, really!" Tifa chuckled and shook her head. Zack sighted, he new that Tifa was going to protect Cloud no matter what he told her. Zack kept his eyes on the road, without saying anything else, there was a pause. And they didn't stare or look at each other. Zack decided to change the subject.

"Are we there yet?" Zack broke the silence, and Tifa's attention was once again at Zack. She opened her eyes and starred over Zack's shoulder, the road at least looked known. The girl knew that they were at the right direction.

"Yeah, just a few blocks from here…" she muttered into his ear. She made it clear for him where they were heading, and Zack stopped his motorcycle when they were there. Zack's eyes glanced at all the houses; he turned around and looked at Tifa again. The city was ruins, nothing like he had remembered it before the day he was shot. The boy raised a eyebrow, and his smile was faded.

"I guess a lot of things have changed… since you last saw it, Zack… the rest of this town is just ruins…" she said sadly, while she looked at Zack. He seemed confused, and that wasn't weird.

"So… we're going to the **Golden Saucer?**" Zack muttered, and starred at Tifa again, she nodded, and started to run. It took a while before he ran after her. Tifa's shoes hit the ground for every step she took, the brunette girl looked behind her, it took Zack only a couple of seconds to come up next to her.


	2. Chapter 2

Zack and Tifa stopped outside of the Golden Saucer

Chapter 2:  
**The Golden Saucer**

Zack and Tifa stopped outside of the **Golden Saucer. **They went in together, and Tifa's brown eyes scanned the room after a table where they could sit. "What are you going to order?" Zack muttered and gazed at the girl in front of him. She shook her head and laughed, she hadn't really thought about it yet, and she wasn't that hungry either.

"I think I'll just have a glass of water, and maybe some bread with jam or something…" she said and starred at Zack, his eyes widened and he looked curiously at her. Tifa raised an eyebrow _what's going on with him? It looks like he finds a glass of water hysterically stupid_ Tifa thought, while she watched Zack shaking, just not to laugh loud.

He took himself together again, and starred at the girl with mild eyes.  
"A glass of water? Bread?! Hello?! You know you're not in a prison, right?! Tifa! Why didn't you say something! If you really want a glass of water, then you should have fixed it for yourself in your bar, we're here to eat! Not to drink water!" he laughed and starred at Tifa.

"I—OJ, you're absolutely right Zack… because I came here to use all my money at food!" she said sarcastic, and didn't meet his gaze. "Fine… I think I'll order a donut or something else! I lost my appetite…" she muttered to herself, and made Zack laugh even more. The girl crossed her arms, and didn't look at Zack at all, and then she remembered what she had told him before, before she thought he was dead. _How could I say that I hated him, it's not possible to not lo —I mean like Zack… he's a great guy… and all he wanted to do was helping…? Right? _She thought to herself again, watching Zack's fingers holding the menu.

"it might be small for you, but still it's a start, right?" Zack mumbled, but Tifa heard what he had said, but didn't bother to answer him. He ordered a triple cheese burger, three hot dogs with ketchup and mustard and some onion rings, a huge order of spaghetti and a coke. Tifa looked sceptically at Zack, but he didn't care. Tifa took a sip of her water, and Zack starred at her.

"What?! What are you starring at?! At least I'm not the one that ordered all that fat food! Do you have any idea what that kind of food is doing to your body?" she looked at the food, then she gazed at Zack. He wasn't fat, so where did he get rid off all that fat?!

"hey, I know that it can make me fat! But it's my body, right?! And I'm still a growing boy! It's my problem if I get fat, not yours! Miss jam!" he teased her, but she didn't like his joke, then again she felt like she had to tell him what she felt, how she felt about that day when she had told him that she hated him. She sighted, and starred into Zack's mako coloured eyes.

"Remember that day I told you that I hated you?" he nodded as answer, while he chewed on his triple cheeseburger. Tifa stopped for awhile, just looking at him and the creepy, ugly way he ate that burger, was making her sick. "Well, I didn't mean it… I was angry… I hope you know that…" she continued, and sighted even louder this time, Tifa was still starring into his eyes, and he waited. "And I just wanted to say, I'm sorry and I didn't mean to… I mean I've never hated you, Zack!" she finished, and Zack had stopped chewing, his eyes were filled up with tears, and he blinked them away. The boy laid down his burger on the table and starred at the girl in front of himself. Had she just said what he thought she had said?!

"you know… I know you were angry that day… and I understand you… I would probably have said exactly the same words as you did if I was you that day! But thank you, Tifa…" he muttered as fast as he had swallowed the piece of burger that he had once had in his mouth for some seconds ago.  
Zack had a pale smile, he didn't know anything else to tell her, but now her eyes were filled up with tears too.

"I thought you died out there, we all did… I never wanted to hate me for what I said to you…" she starred at him, but he just shook his head and laughed it away.

"I would never hated you Tifa… deep down in yourself you know that… right?" he smiled, as he said it, and Tifa smiled back to him. She couldn't cry public, and not in front of Zack, it would have been too foolish of her. The girl blinked her tears away, and smiled to Zack.

Zack lifted up his burger again, and continued chewing on it. He stopped again and watched Tifa, there was only one problem, that he had… sure he was alive, but his parents didn't know. Aerith was dead, for real… the boy closed his eyes, and the brunette starred at him.

"Hey, Tifa… there's just one problem…" he mumbled, and she nodded and took a new sip of her water. "Well, you're the only one that knows that I'm alive again…" Tifa didn't swallow the water, she waited for an answer, and he continued with a loud sight. "Well, my mom and dad still don't know that I'm alive…"he finished and Tifa spitted the water she had, had in her mouth. Her eyes widened.

"Mr and Mrs. Fair thinks you're dead… that their only son is dead… why haven't you told them that you're alive?!" she yelled, and Zack blushed a little, he knew that she was going to react like this, he just knew it! "For how long had you thought to keep it secret?!" she finished, but he didn't answer, there was a pause, and Tifa sighted. "I guess this means you want me to travel to **Gongaga,** tell your parents that you're still alive… and then we'll live happily ever after!" she sighted and shook her head. Zack nodded, and her eyes widened again. "No way! There's no way!" look, you have to solve out your own problems!" she continued, while Zack glaring at the table.

"I-I can't… I've tried… but you have no idea how hard it is…" he sighted as well, and Tifa felt bad, she would probably ask him to tell her parents about the same if she was dead, and if they still was alive. She rolled her eyes and sighted, she hated to see him like this. Tifa crossed her arms and starred at Zack.

"Fine… I'll do it!" she muttered, and Zack's eyes widened, he smiled bigger and Tifa smiled back. It would be hard, but she was sure that she could do it. Zack continued the eating, he was done with his burger, and he had started on the hot dogs. Tifa smiled bigger, _still a growing boy, Zack? Well that's interesting! Really! _Tifa thought and laughed.

"Really?! You would do that?!" he starred at Tifa and stopped chewing on the hot dogs. She nodded as an answer, and Zack smiled back to her. "Well, thank you Tifa, I really appreciate it!" he finished and gazed at the girl in front of himself.

It took awhile before Zack was done with all the food, and after that they paid and left. Tifa was quiet, and it bothered the boy. "Well, when are we going to **Gongaga**?" Tifa muttered, and Zack starred at the bus stop in front of them. Zack's eyes gazed at the bus route, his spiked black hair flew with the wind.

"Well, what about taking the next bus? It'll come a bus in one hour…" he chuckled, and Tifa sat herself down on the ground. Zack starred at the girl, he took it as a yes, since she had placed herself on the ground. Zack sat himself next to the brunette, they looked at the road, but it was no sign for any buses around in the area.

"if… Aerith still was alive… do you think that you would be together?" Tifa changed the subject and starred at Zack, he looked away for a while, but then again he met Tifa's brown eyes. He shook her head, and Tifa's eyes widened. "Why?! She seemed to be a nice girl, don't you agree?" Tifa continued, and starred up at the blue sky, it wasn't one single cloud on the whole sky. And the sun was shining brightly, reflecting in the ocean, the sunlight made all the water around sparkling.

"I don't know… I had planned to marry Aerith, my parents seemed to like her… but I guess it's too late now… and there's still a lot of other girls out here, so I'm not in panic… yet…" he laughed, and Tifa stared at him with friendly eyes.

"I don't have the best connection with Cloud anymore either…" Tifa started, and Zack looked at her. He raised a eyebrow, and looked curiously at Tifa. "I think he takes his job way to serious…" she continued, and Zack looked at her.

The bus finally came, and Tifa and Zack went in it. They found to seats, and sat themselves down. Tifa starred out the window, she had started to get tired, and pressed her eyes open. Zack noticed her tiredness, and laughed a bit. "Hey, Tifa! If you're really that tired, you can lean your head at my shoulder and sleep. I'll wake you up when we're there" he said friendly, and Tifa blushed, but shook her head.

"it's really not necessary, Zack… I'm fine…" she excused, but it made him laugh even more. She starred at him, _okay… so you want me to lean my head against your shoulder? I don't know you that well… _she thought to herself, but stayed silent.  
"Tifa, I insist! You look really tired, and seriously I don't mind!" he chuckled, and she lent her head against his shoulder and fell asleep. Zack smiled for himself, and didn't care much that the other people on the bus were starring at them.

"mom, look! What are they doing?" a young boy said, while he starred at Zack and Tifa. His mother smiled and didn't bother to answer, but the boy kept up the moaning, and his mother had started to get annoyed.

"Look, if you don't gonna be quiet, I'm gonna throw your chocolate pudding into the trash when we arrives home!" she shouted, and Tifa opened her eyes again, but she didn't manage to stay awake, so she fell asleep again.

They had finally arrived Gongaga, and Zack took Tifa's arm and shook it carefully. She opened her eyes, and saw a town she had been in for some months ago, when she was going to tell Zack's parents that he was dead, and now she was going there to tell them that their only son still was alive. She shook her head, _poor people; they're going to get so confused after this conversation… _she thought. "Hey, Tifa! We're here!" Zack whispered Tifa looked confused around in the bus; almost everyone else had gone off the bus, were they really in Gongaga now? Or was this all a dream? She pinched herself, and felt pain, so it couldn't be a dream. Zack raised himself up and waited for Tifa next to the bus door. As the bus door slammed open, Zack went down the stairs and waited for Tifa outside.

The girl with the brown hair followed Zack, and stopped outside next to him. "Are you going to show me your house, or not?" Tifa smirked, and gazed at Zack. _Oh my… I didn't remember that he was that… muscular, and tall… _she thought when she gazed at him. "Or… I remember where your house is…" she continued, and started to think of the day again when they told his parents that their only son was dead. She hadn't planned what to tell them this time, but it could work with a simple _hello, I'm Tifa Lockhart, and your son is alive again… _or… no, it sounded way to retarded…

"Haha, the first room I'm going to show you is my bedroom, who knows what's gonna go on in there in the months from now…" he laughed, and Tifa stared at him with widened eyes. What the heck had he meant by that?! Bedroom? Then she got it, he was joking again as usual. She crossed her hands, and shook her head. "I—I'm joking… okay, let's stay serious from now, or what?" he became serious again, and she smiled.

"I think I'll just talk to your parents right now… and it's a start, right?" she chuckled, and he smiled as well. They started to walk again, and Zack showed Tifa the way to his house.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

**Chapter 3****:  
The truth is going to be told**

Zack stopped outside his house, and Tifa stood next to him. Her brown eyes glanced at his house, she knocked a few times at the door, and Zack hide himself. The girl swallowed, _here it comes_. She thought when she heard his mom coming down the stairs from inside of the house. His mother opened the door, and starred curiously at Tifa.

"Oh, you must be Aerith" his mother gasped when she saw the girl outside, she hugged Tifa so hard that she had problems with breathing. His mother thought it was Aerith, with darker hair.

"N-No… I'm Tifa Lockhart, Miss Fair…" she started and closed her eyes, his mother lot Tifa go, and took a few step backwards, still gazing at the young girl in front of her. "I'm here because of your son" she continued, and his mother looked curiously at Tifa. The young girl with the brown eyes glanced at the inside of their house, it didn't look that bad… she liked it…

"oh, sorry… I've never heard of you… " His mother excused, and made Tifa blush even more. His mother didn't remember her from the group, that day they had told her about Zack. "What has Zack done now, he hasn't hit you, made you pregnant?" she continued, the pregnancy question made Tifa blush even more, she shook her head.

"I'm his friend… kind of… I almost don't know him… but I wanted to tell you something…" Tifa closed her eyes, and his mother blushed as well. Suddenly Mr.Fair came, and looked at Tifa.

"what?! Has Zack made you pregnant?" his father gulped, and Tifa shook her head once again. His father calmed down, and starred at the girl in front of him. "Then what is it you want? What's up with our son?" he finished, and the brunette starred at him with friendly eyes.

"Well, we made a mistake when we said that Zack was dead… he's not dead…" she continued, but she didn't look at his parents. Zack came up behind Tifa, and his mother broke into tears, running to embrace her son.

"Zack is that really you?" she cheered, and hugged her son tight, he nodded, and felt his mother's salt tears fell down on his shoulders. His father looked more sceptical, and shook his head. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" his mother cheered again, with tears stinging in her eyes.

"a ghost…" his father muttered, pointing at Zack. But his son shook his head and smiled to his father. Tifa smiled to Mr and Mrs Fair. She was glad to see them glad again, but still something bothered her, _why was that so easy?!_ She thought to herself. _Oh, what's the matter with me? They're happy, and then I should be happy too…_ she thought again, and saw Zack's dad hugging him as well.

"Mom… dad… I'm glad to see you as well…" Zack muttered as his father hugged him, "but enough hugging now. Or else I'll turn gay" he laughed, and saw his mother laugh of his stupid joke. "I'm not a ghost, dad… it's me… Zack…" he finished and smiled his famous smile to his father. Tifa smiled as well, she had never dreamed about seeing them like this, a family again, and then she started to think of Cloud again. Things like this seemed to only work for real families, and was Cloud her real family? She wasn't so sure about that anymore. Tears started to sting up in her eyes, and Zack noticed them. "Will you two wait for me inside? I just have to have a moment with my friend on my own…" he continued, and his parents went in to their house again. Tifa looked at Zack with tears in her eyes, _my friend?!_ She thought and her eyes widened. "Tifa, what's up?" Zack looked at the crying girl in front of him. She shook her head and laughed nervously.

"nothing, Zack…" she tried, but Zack still didn't believe her, he smiled friendly to her and wiped away a tear from her eye.

"you're crying, so there must be something wrong… right?" he said sceptically, while his fingers ran through her brown hair. She laughed nervously again, and starred into his friendly eyes. "Come on Tifa, you know you can tell me what's wrong!" he finished, and Tifa smiled.

"Okay, fine! I'm jealous! Happy now?!" she said sadly, and the boys eyes widened.

"jealous, why would you be jealous?" he wondered, and saw Tifa's eyes sting up with tears again. "I don't get it…" he continued.

"Because I know that… that thing you and your family just had right now, that moment… never gonna happen to my family… Cloud and the others… it's not going to happen, but I guess that's just a thing for real families…" she continued with a sight. And Zack hugged her tight. Her eyes widened, and she laughed a bit. "Zack… I thought you said it was enough hugging, or else you would turn gay…" she chuckled with tears in her eyes. It made him laugh as well.

"Oh, I can stay gay for a little bit more… but one minute! Nothing more, all right? Or else I'll turn gay for real this time" he chuckled, and hugged Tifa tight. "Look, Tifa… I know how you feel about your family, but still there are others, not only your family that cares for you… you know that, right?" he finished, and Tifa wiped away her tears.

"like who?! There's Cloud, Marlene, and Denzel, no one else!" she gasped and closed her eyes, Zack sighted to him, and ran his fingers through her hair again.

"There is always me… you know…" he started, and the girl's eyes widened. "That's right… I'll always be here for you…" he finished, and Tifa went a few steps backwards, glancing at him.

"you really mean that?! You're not joking now, are you?" she continued, but Zack shook his head. Tifa smiled and starred at the boy with friendly eyes. "Well, then I guess there's more that cares for me than I knew for myself…" she continued, and Zack starred at her and smiled. The boy glancing at the inside of his house, with his arms crossed. His parents had gone in again, and sat in the living room. His father read the news paper, and his mother knitted. "Looks like mission 'bring Zack back to life' is over then… I think I should get going…" she finished, and walked away from the boy's house. His attention was at Tifa again, and he ran after her and stopped in front of her.

"wait, Tifa! You don't have to go!" he chuckled and Tifa's eyes widened again. Zack looked into his house again, and nodded. "It's already dark outside, you can come and stay with me for the night… then you can get going tomorrow, if you want to" he continued, the boy was right, it was dark outside, and she didn't really remember the way back to the bus stop in this darkness. She turned around; glancing at his house again, then she glanced at where they had come from.

"I really don't want to bother you, you just came home… use your time on your parents… they've missed you…" she started, but Zack shook his head and gently touched Tifa's palm.

"I want you to come… really, you don't bother me! And you're not bothering my parents either! I'm sure they look at you as some kind of hero, now that you brought me home again." He said with a soft voice, he had convinced Tifa, she could just give up, because Zack had no plans about giving up with the first. They went in to his house together, and Tifa starred at the walls. They had almost twice as much picture on the wall as she had in her bar. His mother laid away the knitting things, and went to say hello to Tifa again. She stopped and hugged the girl, and Zack smiled. "See, I told you they look at you as some kind of hero or something" he laughed.

"I'm not a hero" she protested, and his mother heard her, and smiled friendly to Tifa.

"don't be shy, off course you're a real hero… maybe not for everyone, but you're sure one for us! Thank you for bringing our only son back…" his mother muttered as she hugged Tifa. The attractive brunette didn't know what to say, here she had came back with their son, and now they looked at her as some kind of hero? It was the weirdest thing she had ever been through, since Cloud always had been the one they had looked at as a hero.

"hey, mom… can our hero stay here for the night? It's too dark to let her go out on her own now… please, just for this night?" he begged his mother, and his mother smiled and nodded. "Yay" cheered Zack and ran over to Tifa. "I'll make the sofa ready for you…" Zack said and smiled to Tifa. His mother leaved them; she sat herself down in the chair again, and continued her knitting.

"you don't have to do that, Zack. I can do it myself…" Tifa muttered, but he shook his head and laughed.

"Remember who the hero is, all right? It's you, and seriously, I want to do it!" he said with his famous smile on his face, and Tifa nodded in disbelief. _Zack, doing the sofa ready for me? I have to see this is he's actually going to do it! _She thought to herself and smiled back to Zack. "but we're not going to bed yet… it's too early… what do you say to watch a movie or something together with me?" he suggested, and Tifa smiled.

"I would love to watch a movie together with you…" she said and smiled. They sat themselves down on the sofa, and Zack turned on the television and went through their channels.

"That sucks, that one sucks even more, what the hell is that?" he muttered to himself while he went though their channels. His father lifted his eyes away from the news paper, and starred at the television. It was a kid's channel, and right now they were sending a program for kids. Zack blushed while he found out that Tifa had noticed the same as he had. "Its okay, Tifa, I've never watched those programs anyway, don't get the wrong idea!" he warned her. She was serious at the beginning, but when a teddy bear started to sing and dance, her curiosity exploded, she laughed so hard, she hadn't remembered the last time she had laughed that much. Zack held his left hand, and covered his eyes, know his biggest secret ever was gone, it wasn't that secret anymore. Tifa laughed even more when she saw Zack's expression. His mother looked at the television as well, and laughed when the dancing bear started to sing and dance tango together with a pig.

"look, Zack… it's no big deal! Everyone has watched those programs before, right? It's nothing to be embarrassed for!" Tifa laughed and covered her mouth with a hand; she could see that Zack didn't believe her.

"it's a big deal! For me!" he snorted, and threw a glance at the program again, now a whole bunch with teddy bears had started to dance. And it made Tifa and the rest of his family laugh even more. Zack rolled his eyes, and his mother looked at him with kind eyes.

"don't take yourself so serious, Zack! It's just a program! It's fine if you don't like it, just move on to another channel!" his mother said while she laughed, and that was what Zack did. There was a romantic film on the next channel, he was going to change the channel again, but his mother stopped him. "Oh, I love films like that! Aren't they romantic?" she chuckled, and Zack rolled his eyes again. Zack sighted, and didn't change the channel again.

"sure, they're so romantic that they're making me ill!" Zack said sarcastic, and his mother looked at him with mild eyes. His father protested too, and sighted as well.

"Zack is right, see if you can find some really good porn!" his father suggested, and his wife's eyes widened.

"forget it, dear, not with girls in the house, you can watch so much porn as you want, but not when there's girls and females in the house!" Zack's mother protested, and Zack rolled his eyes again. The whole conversation made Tifa laugh. They discussed for minutes after that porn was better than the romantic shit that was on the television now, and Zack's mother was the one that won in the end. The romantic film was on the rest of the night.

His mother wiped away some tears when a character in the film died, and left his lover again on her own. Mr.Fair rolled his eyes and looked at his wife. "Look, it's just a film, the guy's not dead in the real life" he tried to convince, but his wife shook her head and continued wiping away her tears, with the tissue.

"Poor, poor girl! Look how miserable she is! DAMN IT BOY! WAKE UP!" she screamed to the television, and Tifa's eyes widened, Zack held is hand covering over his eyes again, now his mother had started to talk to the television, it was the most embarrassing thing he had been through his whole life. He blushed when he found out that Tifa was glancing at him. "NOOOOO!" his mother screamed when the girl in the film started to cry, and the boy was dead, Tifa was shocked by his mother scream, and Zack just wanted to fell down from the sofa, making the attention on him, and not on the stupid film. "He's dead! FUCK YOU DAMN MURDER" his mother shouted to the television when the killer was on the screen again, and Mr.Fair rolled his eyes again. Zack blushed even more, and was happy when the film was finally over. "Okay, that's it! Let's make the sofa ready for Zack's girlfriend and go to sleep" his mother raised herself from the sofa, and Tifa looked at her in disbelief, _girlfriend, since when!? _Tifa thought to herself, and raised herself up from the sofa as well.

When they were done with the sofa, Zack's parents leaved and Zack and Tifa was alone again. "There you go, the sofa is done" Zack smirked to Tifa; she smiled back to him, and closed her eyes.

"Am I your girlfriend? Since when?!" she smirked, and the boy in front of her blushed again.

"I'm kind of tired, so I'll explain tomorrow." He excused. "Good night, Tifa!" he said on his way up the stairs.

"yeah, good night Zack!" she answered, and laid herself down on the sofa and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

**Chapter 4:  
Rise and shine, rise and shine. ****  
**Tifa yawned the next morning, when she woke up, and glanced around in the room. Zack's mother was in the kitchen, making pancakes for breakfast. Tifa stretched, and looked into the kitchen. The pancake scent was heavenly, for sure. Tifa heard her stomach growl; the scent was sure making her feel hungry. The girl raised herself up and went in on the kitchen. Zack's mother turned around and smiled to Tifa. "Good morning… slept well? I know the sofa isn't the best thing to sleep on, but I still hope that you had a good nights sleep" the mother muttered, and smiled to Tifa. "But before we start eating, would you please go upstairs and wake up Zack? He's a little bit lazy…" Mr.Fair continued, and Tifa nodded. She went up the stairs, and knocked at Zack's bedroom door.

"just five more minutes, mom" Zack muttered in his sleep and yawned. Tifa's eyes widened, _oh gods, he thinks it's his mother, _Tifa thought and laughed, Zack recognized her laughter, and raised his head up from the pillow. "Tifa?" he muttered tired and starred at the closed door. He heard her laugh even more.

"Mom?" she laughed in disbelief, _as if his mother is going up here every morning to wake him up. Hah, I seriously doubt that!_ She thought to herself, and smiled. Zack went out of the bed, and panicked when he found out that he was only wearing his boxers. "Your mother sent me up here to tell you that it's breakfast!" she finished, and Zack's face lighted up when he heard the word breakfast. "It's pancakes…" Tifa added and smiled. Zack hurried and took a pair of jeans from his wardrobe. He pulled on the jeans, and opened the door. Tifa chuckled while she saw Zack on the other side of the door. "You took your time, I'm sure that was more than five minutes!" she laughed and Zack blushed. "Hey, don't worry, I'm a little bit slow in the morning as well" she added and laughed more. Zack yawned and followed Tifa down the stairs, they both stopped in the kitchen.

"oh, I see you're finally awake" his mother cheered, and starred at Zack. Tifa laughed low when she saw his mother's expression. And then she glanced at the pancakes on the table. Zack had noticed the same as Tifa had, and reached to get a pancake, but his mother moved them before he got one. "Oh no, Zack! We're waiting for your father! It seems like the only thing males can think on, is porn and food!" his mother's answer made Tifa laugh even more, and Zack blushed again. Mr.Fair came down the stairs, and sat himself down on one of the chairs, looking dreamily on the pancakes. "Now we can eat!" Mrs. Fair cheered and sat herself next to her husband, Tifa and Zack sat next to each other as well, glancing at the pancakes on the table.

Zack grabbed himself 8 pancakes, and ate them all one after one, his father had grabbed 12 pancakes, and Tifa looked at them with widened eyes, _how the hell do they eat all that?! _She thought to herself, and glanced at Zack and his father, eating pancakes like pigs. Mrs. Fair shook her head, and starred at Tifa with friendly eyes. "Don't be scared, Tifa. They're like this every single morning!" his mother told her, and glanced at her husband and her son. Tifa smiled, she wasn't scared, more shocked, but she didn't bother to start a fight about that now.

"slept well?" Zack wondered after he had eaten 6 pancakes, his dad looked shocked at his son and smiled.

"yes, very well, thanks for asking" his father said with a smile, and Zack blushed.

"I didn't ask you…" Zack mumbled to himself, but his father didn't seem to hear him, Tifa understood that the question was for her, and smiled a friendly smile. Zack closed his eyes, and his mother starred out of the window. It seemed to be an okay morning, the sun had just risen, and it wasn't one single cloud on the whole sky. The grass moved once and awhile when the wind blew.

"yeah… I slept well, Zack… what about you?" Tifa asked, and Zack's face lightened up, he had never dreamed of her to ask him that question. Suddenly the room went quiet, no one said anything. Tifa starred at the cream coloured walls around her, and then she starred at the brown floor. Everything in this house was so… peaceful. Every single door in the house was painted white, and the golden candlesticks stood on the table, with white candles. Then she remembered what he had promised her, last night. That conversation when he had said that she was his girlfriend. Maybe if she remembered him about it later. Then Tifa gazed at Zack, it was impossible to ignore him… _Zack is… Zack… a amazing person…_Tifa thought to herself and grinned to Zack, he looked back at her with his famous smile on his face. Zack ate the two last pancakes, and looked at Tifa's when he was done. He had a smirk on his face.

"uh, Tifa… are you going to eat that one?" he smirked, and Tifa looked at her own pancake… Zack's mother sighted loud and starred at Tifa with sad eyes. Tifa shook her head, and Zack grabbed the pancake. "Great, thanks Tifa!"

"That was so rude, Zack!" his mother gasped, and Zack looked at his mother with widened eyes. "That was Tifa's pancake, you've already eaten like what? 8?" she finished, but Zack didn't seem to bother. The black haired boy smiled and looked at his parents. His father had found the news paper for the day, and was so into it that he didn't notice that Zack stole his father pancake as well. "Great… looks like I have to make more" his mother sighted, and Zack's face lighted up.

"you would be willing to do that? Oh, Thankies mum!" Zack muttered with a calm, sweet voice, as his mother went out to the kitchen again and made more pancakes. Zack's father slammed his fist down on the table, and Zack jumped a few meters up in the air and landed on his chair again. "What was that for?" Zack screamed and looked at his father.

"Someone has taken my pancake!" Mr.Fair hissed and looked seriously at Zack, but Zack grinned bigger and tried to look innocent, but his father did know who it was who had taken his pancake. "Zack!" his father growled, and Zack's mako coloured eyes widened.

"Don't worry, she makes more right Now!" Zack chuckled and sent a nervous gaze into the kitchen. He ate up the pancakes that he had 'stole' and looked at Tifa again. Then he starred out the window, it was pour raining outside. "Hey, Tifa! I told you that you could stay here for the night, you don't have any plans about going home yet, have you?" Tifa gazed out the window as well, all she wanted was to leave, but the weather outside wasn't that tempting. "you know… it's like madness to go out there right now…" he finished, and Tifa starred at Zack.

"I don't know… I had plans about leaving about one our, but it depends on the weather… I'll think I leave soon…" she muttered as she gazed out the window, Mr.Fair coughed and looked at the brunette in front of him.

"you're kidding, right? Look at the weather outside!" he chuckled and smiled to Tifa.

"Rain has never stopped me before…" Tifa giggled and starred at Mr. Fair. Rain hadn't really stopped her before, so why was she so worried this time. And Cloud was home as well, and she wasn't that interested in talking with him yet.

"yeah, but you'll catch a cold if you go out there, and anyway, Zack's girlfriend is allowed to stay here as long as she wants!" Mr. Fair laughed, and Tifa starred at him, there it was again. _Zack's girlfriend? What the heck had he told his parents? _She thought and smiled. Zack looked away, and went away from the table. His father looked at Zack; the young boy was on his way outside. "Where are you going?" his father muttered, and the black haired boy turned around and faced his dad.

"outside… need some air… and Tifa is leaving, so I might as well drive her to the train station… coming Tifa?" Tifa looked up and starred at Zack; she followed him out, and stopped by his car. "I guess you want to know what the heck it was they were talking about… I'm a right?" Zack sighted, and Tifa nodded. "Well, fine… my parents were worried about me when Aeris died… they thought… they thought I was giving up on finding someone to love… so I lied and told them that you were my girlfriend… I know its wrong… and I'm sorry… You don't hate me again… do you?" he muttered and looked at her with widened eyes.

"No… I don't hate you… I have one question… have you talked to your parents before? After Aeris died? Because it seemed like you had." She muttered quiet, and Zack's head hang down. His black forehead hair covered his face, and he nodded.

"I talked to my mom on the phone… but I ran out of gil, so I couldn't talk to her before it was over… it was a phone box… and by the way I actually tried to call-" he started, but Tifa got the picture.

"was it you? The guy who didn't answer me when I picked up the phone? Back at the bar?" she gasped, and remembered it, Zack nodded, and she smiled. She had freaked out for nothing; it was just a guy that had run out of Gil. "It's ok… you couldn't help that your Gil ran out…" Zack looked at Tifa. He opened the car door and went inside of it, and she did the same. She sat herself down at the seat next to him, and starred out the window. The boy with the black hair started the car, and drove on the motorway.

"Are you sure you want to leave so soon?" Zack muttered, while he drove the car. Tifa didn't answer, _oh gods, I want to stay… but… _she thought, and then she saw that he had already reached the train station. The train back to Nibelheim was there, and it leaved in about 20 minutes. She sighted loud, and Zack closed his eyes. "Tifa…" he started. The girl with the brown hair frowned, _why do I frown? The only thing he did was saying my name… right? Take yourself together, Tifa… that's nothing to start to frown about. _She thought, and starred at Zack with her brown eyes. "Tifa?" he repeated, and she starred at him blankly. "Looks like your train is leaving… soon, you need to make a choice!" he muttered, and Tifa sighted again.

"Zack… I have to leave…" her voice was dry, and she didn't look at him. The boy shook his head and crossed his arms, while he starred at the train in front of them.

"Fine then, give me your phone number and E-mail address…." He chuckled, but still his voice was serious. Tifa's brown eyes widened, and she blushed. _Thank god that it's dark inside here… or else he would have seen it… _she thought, and Zack found a piece of paper and a pen inside the car. He wrote down his number and his mail address, and then he gave it to her, together with a blank piece. She starred at the piece of papers and the pen, and wrote down her number and her e-mail address on the empty paper, she wasn't in the mood for arguing today. She handed Zack her piece with the number on, and he smiled. "Great, I'll call you tomorrow, go and catch your train now…" he said, and she opened the car door and went over to the train station to get a ticket. On her way to the train, she could catch a glimpse of Zack, still sitting in his car, glaring at her. But she didn't really care, and went in and found her seat inside the train.

An old man had the seat next to her inside the train, even if it was morning, the man was asleep, and he was snoring loudly. Tifa rolled her eyes and sat herself down next to the snoring man, she starred out the window again, and Zack's car was still there. She was so sure that he had leaved, but he hadn't. Tifa sighted, all she really wanted was to get off the train, and run back to him, but she guessed that it was too late now.

20 minutes later the train started to move, and she was on her way back to Nibelheim. The snoring man next to her had been asleep for like 20 minutes now, and she watched Zack's car slowly drive back from where it had come from.

Tifa arrived her home a lot of hours later; she opened up her front door and went inside. The girl was tired, all the travelling had made her extremely tired, and the guy next to her hadn't exactly made it better with all the snoring. She lay down on the couch, and yawned. Before she knew it herself, she had fallen asleep again.

Zack sighted while he drove the car back to his home, it was still raining in Gongaga, and he turned on the radio, and heard **Roxette – Fading like a flower. **Zack sighted and turned off the radio, songs like that were the last thing he wanted to listen to right now. He stopped the car outside his house, and went up the stairs outside his house to get up to the front door, he was going to open it, but his mother did it before him. She stood inside the room, grinning to his son; she looked over his shoulder, with a confused expression on her face.

"where's that adorable girlfriend of yours?" she wondered, and Zack sighted. His mother crossed her arms, and looked worried at Zack. "Did she dump you?" the boy with the black hair shook his head, and crossed his arms as well. "Did you dump her? Zack! What's wrong with you?" he shook his head again, and tears started to sting up in his mako coloured eyes, he didn't want to talk about it, not now. His mother looked at her son and sighted. "Then what is it? There's something wrong, I can see that!" she continued, and Zack pushed his mother away when he got into the room, it wasn't hard, it was just because she was standing in his way, he couldn't get into the house. He ran up the stairs, and his mother growled after him. "Zack! Get back here!" but he didn't, he rushed into his room and closed the door. He had hoped that Tifa would stay, but she didn't, and he had done nothing to try to stop her. Ever since Aeris died, he had thought that he wouldn't love someone ever again, but then he had dumped into Tifa again, and felt something. He had finally found love again, and the only thing he had done, was let her go. At least he had her phone number, and e-mail address, but that didn't make him feel better right now. He lay himself down on his bed, thinking on Tifa, and what they had done the last days. He fell asleep as well.

Zack starred at the door when he heard knocking, he raised himself up in a sitting position, and mumbled out something when the door opened. "Tifa?" he wondered, and sighted when he saw his mom come into his room. He threw himself down on the bed again, and his mother stopped next to his bed. She kneeled in front of him, but still the boy didn't bother to look at her.

"Dinner is ready? Are you hungry?" she wondered with a calm voice, but Zack didn't answer her, she didn't hear a sound coming from him, so she was afraid he had killed himself. "Zack?" she muttered, and he sat himself up in his bed again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

**Chapter 5****:  
****A new day has come**

"What?" he wondered, but still he didn't look at his mom. "I'm not hungry…"

"What? Zack are you all right?"

**  
**Zack shook his head, he wasn't hungry at the moment, and his mother sighed louder. She sat herself down on his bed, and looked into his mako colored eyes. "It's because of that Aerith girl, isn't it?" she wondered, and Zack's eyes widened.

"Mom, its Tifa! Aerith is dead!" he replied dryly, and gazed at his mother. He sighted, and his mother smiled bigger.

"so? I'm sure she'll call you or something… and you have to eat you know… it's dangerous not to…" she smirked, and Zack starred at her with a sarcastic look on his face.

"maybe later… I need some time on my own… okay?" he murmured, but his mother shook her head and smiled bright.

"what if I invited that blonde boy? I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about!" Zack shook his head and peered out his bedroom window. The last thing he wanted at all right now was company. And the worried look his mother had on her face annoyed him. Cloud was a great buddy for him, but he could talk to him later.

"Zack, I've told you this a thousand times before, if you really want to be together with a girl, you need to hold on to her tight, and really go for it! This problem won't solve itself!" Zack rolled his eyes and nit his lower lip. His mako eyes stared at his mother now; he raised himself from his bed and walked over to the door.

"I need some air" was the only thing he said before he headed out the door.

--

Tifa sipped from her tea, and glared out the window. She hadn't paid attention to Yuffie's conversation at all, and had no idea what the younger girl was talking about.

"what the… Tifa?! You just leaved him?" Yuffie gasped and looked at Tifa with widened eyes.

"I did…" Tifa muttered, and her eyes widened as well when Yuffie's fist slammed down into the table.

"What?! What's wrong with you?!" the younger girl screamed now, and the older one gently shook her head.

"it wouldn't have worked anyway! I didn't want to waste my time there." The sun blended the brunet for a second, but at least Reno had stopped calling her. Cissnei had seen Zack and herself at the Golden Saucer, and Zack was supposed to be dead, so Cissnei had told everything she had seen to Reno. She could hear Yuffie's voice mumbling something that she was unable to hear, but didn't bother to ask her to repeat what she just had said.

Reno was a nice guy, and he was pretty but he wasn't her type.  
she had figured out by now that a prince charming on a white horse, was quite far away from her.  
Tifa hadn't met a man who was her type since she'd left AVALANCHE eight months before. Cloud was a great guy as well, even though he had sulked a little too much lately since Aerith's death, so she felt that she was pretty much done with Cloud at the moment.  
And then, a guy she thought was dead had came into the picture again. He was a guy that she could send emails to, and receive a answer a few days later. The days she had spent with Zack lately, had been the best days for her for a long, long while. She had enjoyed every single second with him.

Yuffie was headed for the door, and had her own coat and Tifa's coat in her hand. Tifa headed for the door and grabbed her coat from Yuffie. And they walked together in the cold autumn weather.  
the change from summer to autumn, had come way too fast. A few days ago, the sun was bright and warm, but the temperature was colder now. Tifa tucked her chin down into her black coat – it might be August, but it was still cold and damp outside. Yuffie had been quiet for a while now, it wasn't like her, but Tifa was OK with it.

"where do you want to go, Teef?" Yuffie wondered, and smiled polite to the girl next to her, the silence Tifa had enjoyed for a few seconds, was now long gone. And since she hadn't replied fast enough, Yuffie did it for her. "Oh, I know! Let's go inside 7th Heaven, I'm sure the temperature is better there, or what do you say?" Tifa didn't answer this time either, so Yuffie continued. "7th Heaven it is then." She finished, and both of the girls headed off to Tifa's bar.

Yuffie stopped up as she waited for her friend to open up the door, and suddenly recognized a well known perfume. "God, I can smell Reno!" she gasped, and peered around the house corner, but Tifa grinned and Yuffie stared back at Tifa after awhile. "What?! I mean it Teef, I can actually smell Reno!"

"Sure Yuff, what are you, a blood hound?!" she laughed, and Yuffie crossed her arms and stuck out th tip of her tongue. "Hey, don't do that to me! It's rude! And childish!" Tifa finished.

"You're only jealous because I have ninja skills, and you haven't! I swear! I can seriously smell Reno!"

--  
Reno had received a mail from Cissnei, she wanted to meet him in sector 7 12.30 PM, and now it was 12.20. He huffed as he ran as fast as he could, headed for sector 7.

"I'm going to be late, she's going to be pissed, and there goes our chance to be a future couple. God's I'm so lucky, my future is ruined because of Rude. it's all his fault, he held me back!" he groaned as he ran further, he was ripped out of his thoughts when he ran into a black clothed person with dark brown hair and brown eyes, and then suddenly he recognized her, Tifa Lockhart, from 7th Heaven, he smirked as he helped her up. Yuffie looked at Reno with annoyed eyes.

"I'm so sorry miss, I was in a hurry" he smiled, and Tifa smiled back and shook her head.

"no, it was my entire fault…" she stopped when she saw who it was. "Reno?! What are you doing here?" Tifa crossed her arms, and Reno's smirk faded. Yuffie raised her fist and waved it near Reno's face.

"Teef, I bet he's here because he's ordered to spy on us!" Yuffie kicked Reno in his knee, and he hissed. "Tell us why you're here!" she added, and looked at Reno.

"I'm not here to plan a spy night on you. I'm seeing Cissnei! And besides, Cissnei must even have been soaking drunk or tired when she saw you and Zack a couple of days, or weeks ago, since the guy's obviously dead right?" Reno hissed, and Tifa bit her lower lip, how was she supposed to get out of this mess? She wasn't even sure what she could tell him, but she knew that she had to protect Zack as well as she could.

"yes, he's dead Reno!" she replied after awhile, but Reno didn't look convinced at all.

"hmm, okay… I'm sorry for the loss then. I… guess I should keep going now, to Cissnei, or else she'll kill me, if I'm too late" Tifa nodded again, and he headed off.

"I have a weird feeling about this" Yuffie murmured, and Tifa laughed.

"first you smell something weird, and then you have a weird feeling? What's up with you today?!" she laughed and Yuffie smiled.

Her mind was dull, until she heard that her phone was ringing again. She answered the call, but then again there was no one in the other end.

"it's not funny anymore!" she hissed, and then she heard a person in the other end.

"T-Tifa… help me!" the voice called and Tifa's eyes widened.

"Cloud! Where are you?!"

--  
_  
Well, that's it for this chapter; I promise that the next chapter will be longer!  
Characters belong to Square Enix! _


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Chapter 6  
Help is near  
**the night held countless different kinds of darkness, from the dark wine sky, to the bright moon and stars, to the cities that broke it into secret pieces with bright lights. Zack knew them all, since he always loved to look at the sky before he fell asleep. But he had a feeling that something was really wrong, since Cloud hadn't answered his email for several days. And it had started to worry him. And then again it was all the colours that the autumn brought; he had always thought that autumn was a nice season, as long as he was inside.

"I think I should tell her how I really feel…" he mumbled as he stared up at the moon. He hadn't had contact with Tifa for awhile now either. He did regret that he had just let her go that easily, and wanted to go after her, the only thing that concerned him a bit, was if it really was safe to drive the car late at the night. It wasn't that dark right now, though, but still his mother would be able to see him if he sneaked out from their house. The only solution was to make a rope out of the bed sheets, and hope he wouldn't fall out of the window and hurt himself too much. He looked in his wardrobe for some sheets, and threw them out of the window when he was satisfied with them, and so he started to climb out of his bedroom window.

Tifa was shocked after the telephone call, and tried to find out where Cloud was. Yuffie crossed her arms and thought loud. "Maybe he's caught, or maybe Sephy injured him too much? Oh God! Think if he's dying!" the colourful leafs swirled around Tifa and Yuffie in the night. Only the gate light flashed and gave a little bit light. The ground was still soaked wet after the rain that had been earlier that day. Tifa turned her collar up against the wind, and shoved her gloved deep in her pockets, more out of habit than for the additional warmth. She had an idea of where Cloud could be, it wasn't far away from were they were now, and Tifa needed to think.

"Thank you Yuffie, I get the picture! We need to find him!" Tifa was headed for the bus, and Yuffie followed her. "No, you can't follow me!" Tifa hissed and looked seriously at Yuffie.

"Why can't I come? You always took me with you when you went to places before." Yuffie protested and looked disappointed at Tifa. The older one shook her head and continued her walking.

"it's too dangerous! What if Sephiroth's still there? He can harm you too!" Tifa murmured and her eyes were softer now, but Yuffie was still not satisfied.

"So? I'll bite him!" she hissed sarcastic behind her gritted teeth. Tifa closed her brown eyes and the cool air felt good against her jaw.

"but he may kill you before you do that!" Tifa said stubbornly and looked at Yuffie.

"but…" Tifa had to stop and swallow her grief before she could continue.

"We have to- I mean I have to go and find Cloud, alone." Tifa tried to push Yuffie away and continue her walk.

"You don't exactly know where Cloud is Tifa!" Yuffie groaned and ran after the taller one.

"I do know where he is, he told me that he was on a delivery, not far away fro here in fact, maybe someone attacked him!" Tifa shoved her hands deep in her pockets and scowled down the length of the long, empty gate. Yuffie ran after her, and tried to stop Tifa.

"stop being so damn tomboy Tifa! I do care about Cloud too, I want to help!" Yuffie screamed and held Tifa hard, preventing her to walk.

"It'll help if you stay here! go home Yuffie, there's absolutely nothing else you can do about it!" Tifa shook herself free from Yuffie's arms and continued, and Yuffie ran after her again.

"Tifa!" she screamed as she ran.

"Stay out of it Yuffie! Cloud is my childhood friend! I'm the one that's going to help him!" Tifa yelled and ran faster, but Yuffie was still after her.

"there's your problem Tifa, you're way too stubborn and headstrong sometimes! You can't win every single fight all the time!" Yuffie mumbled and Tifa pushed the strap of her purse back on her shoulder.

"Yuffie…" she stopped and looked at the smaller girl in front of herself.

"You should accept the help when someone offers to help! You can't handle everything alone! I want to save that emo too!"

"Go home!"

"NO! Cloud is a wonderful person, and I want to help!" Tifa didn't want to hear anymore about how Cloud was a wonderful person, and gave in.

"Fine, you can join me, if you're still interested!"

"you said you had an idea of where he was, where is he then?"

"the slum church"

--  
Cloud closed his eyes and hissed in pain. A gang of soaked drunk guys had attacked him, he was strong, but he couldn't handle a huge gang like that, not straight after Aerith's death. He leaned his head down in the green grass, and smelled the scent from the lilies around him. The gang had leaved him alone, bleeding. He thought he could see a person in the corner of his eye, a familiar person, but it had to be his imagination. But the person shape came closer to him and she sat herself down on her knees in front of him.

"look what've happened to you…" she murmured soft, and Cloud's eyes widened when he recognized her.

"Aerith, you're alive?!" Cloud's vision was still blurry, and he wasn't sure if he really saw what he was seeing.

"umm… not quite…"

"why did you leave me?"

"I never leaved you!"

"Aerith…"

"hold on Cloud, help will be her soon!"

"don't go"

"I won't leave you"

--

_seems like this chapter ended up short as well, yeah yeah, let's see if the next one will be longer. _


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Chapter 7  
it was my fault  
**Cloud's eyes filled slowly up with blank tears. He hated himself from the day Aerith had died, and blamed himself. Aerith looked at the bloody blonde with concerned eyes and tried to get eye contact with him.

"what's wrong?" she whispered soft and smiled polite to Cloud. The blonde man with the mako eyes looked at Aerith and shook his head. "Come on Cloud! Tell me!" she smiled brighter and stroke her hand over his left palm.

"I… I have just… missed you so much" his eyes was wet, but he didn't start crying, he couldn't remember the last time he had cried, and tried to hold back. Tifa had always just been a friend for him, a good friend, while Aerith ha been his love. His heart had been tore apart that day, that day when she had died. And now it felt like he had a big, black whole in his chest. He know how it was between Aerith and Zack, then his best friend had died (at least they had thought he was dead), and he had promised his best friend that he would take care of Aerith, but then she died, and Zack came back. And Tifa had spent all her time with him, and all was just a gigantic mess. The brown haired girl smiled brighter.

"I've missed you too, Cloud!" she smiled, and peered up through the whole in the church roof.  
"the sky used to scare me, but now it's not that scary anymore" she added soft.

"but you died! I never wanted it to happen!" he said emotionlessly and Aerith looked at Cloud again.  
The blonde stared at the girl with the brown braid and pink dress. She sat herself down and looked at the lilies in front of her and had a pleasant smile on her face. Her index finger touched one of the petals on the flower.

"I know that… please don't blame yourself too much" she turned around and smiled to Cloud. Then she looked at the flowers again and smiled.

Zack's plan about getting out of the house had worked perfect; he had reached his car and started to drive back to 7th Heaven. His eyes were as good as glued at the road, and were focused on the driving. He tapped his nails against his seat. "Come on! We can go faster than this!" he murmured to himself and drove faster.

The road was dark, and it was only a few street lights, so he wasn't really sure of how fast he could really drive without killing himself. It was cold in the car, and the car window was open, but sightless, Zack couldn't afford to block off his other senses at the moment. The wind smelled like decaying leaves, really expensive perfume and wood smoke. And all the fog made it hard to see something at all, but he had to see Tifa, he hadn't meant to dumb her, and hoped it wouldn't be too late.

After hours with driving, Zack had finally reached 7th Heaven; he parked the car and knocked on the door. "Tifa? Are you there?" he yelled, but didn't get an answer, so he knocked harder. Then he saw the note on the front door. "I'm at the slum church, 7th Heaven is closed, I'll be back in a few hours" he read it and went into his car to drive to the church in the slums.

Yuffie and Tifa had reached the slum church, and the youngest girl opened the brown, wood door. They could both hear a guy that was talking to himself, because they couldn't see anyone around. Tifa saw Cloud, bloody lying in the middle of the lilies and ran over to him. She sat herself down on her knees next to him and put her left hand on his forehead.

"Cloud! What's happened to you?!" she yelled, but tried to keep herself calm. Aerith saw Tifa, and stood in the middle of the lilies, watching them, but Tifa couldn't see Aerith. Yuffie sat herself down next to Tifa and looked at a beaten up Cloud.

"You see? I told you someone would help you, everything is all right now!" Aerith was still standing in the middle of the lilies, and smiled when she saw Cloud's mako eyes opening. The blonde one trembled.

"are you going to leave me now?" he wondered, and Aerith's smile faded. Tifa tried to glare at the same thing as the guy was doing, but she couldn't see anything. "Aerith… please don't leave!" Tifa's mouth fell open.

"Aerith?! Where's Aerith?!" she murmured and looked confused around in the church, but still she couldn't see Aerith.

"I told you I would watch out for you when you were alone here, right? Well, you're safe now. I better get going" the girl with the green eyes muttered and smiled polite to Cloud. She stopped over to Cloud and kissed him on his cheek.

"I'm sorry" he closed his eyes and the pink dressed girl smiled and looked at Tifa and Yuffie. A crystal, salt tear floated down Cloud's rosy cheek, and Aerith wiped it away. The blonde boy stared at Aerith, and saw that she had started to fade away. Another tear floated down his cheek.

"Don't be sorry, Cloud. It's not your fault, you're forgiven" she was almost gone now, only her voice could be heard, but it was mixed up with the wind. And for the first time, for a long while with no smiling, he smiled a small smile.

"I love you-" He was interfered by Tifa, she hugged him and Yuffie shook her head. This was a little too romantic for Yuffie.  
--

Zack had finally entered the church stairs, and ran up and into the church, he stopped when he saw Tifa, holding a bloody Cloud in her arms- no, she wasn't holding him, she was hugging him, and then she kissed the blonde guy on his mouth.

"oh Cloud! I love you too!" Zack's eyes widened and so did his mouth, he was really too late. He felt his heart sink in his chest and wanted most of all to run over there and tell Tifa how he really felt, but he wouldn't ruin anything. The black haired man slowly walked out of the church, obviously disappointed and wanted to drive back to his home. He had a small pray that his mother hadn't noticed that he was missing.

"I love you Aerith!" Cloud murmured and snuggled into Tifa's chest, she pulled away from a bit, Aerith? Not her? The dark brunet looked confused at Yuffie, but her friend didn't say anything.  
"I love you so much, Aerith!" he trembled more, and the youngest girl opened her mouth to say something. Tifa felt her eyes filled up with salt tears, this was what she was afraid of, and this was what she had feared the most for all these years, hearing him say that. A salt tear ran down her cheek, and Yuffie hugged Tifa.

"he must have hit his head or something" Yuffie suggested, but Tifa shook her head and peered out of the whole in the church roof, with her brown eyes filled up with tears. She had always known how Cloud felt about Aerith, but somehow she had hoped that he was over her, obviously he wasn't. She was always going to be his best friend, but nothing more than that, he didn't love her, he still loved Aerith. Yuffie frowned and looked at Cloud, how could he say something like that to someone he knew loved him?

"I can't force him to love me, if that's really how he feels, then I got to accept it" she said and looked at the ninja.

Reno was heading back after his date with Cissnei, soaking wet since she had thrown the roses back on him. Slapped them in his face since he had been late, he had tried to tell her why he was late, but she wasn't interested.

"I was late, she was pissed, and now I'm going to catch a cold, and it's all Rude's fault!" the red haired man hissed and spitted out a rose petal. "These flowers tastes like shit man!" he hissed and stuck out his tongue, trying to dry the taste away. He heard footsteps behind, and turned around to see if someone really was there, but no one was in sight.

"they tastes like shit because you're not supposed to eat them!" a male voice murmured soft, but Reno couldn't see who it was because it was way too dark.

"Who's there?!" Reno yelled, but he didn't get a response, he raised his fists, ready to attack whoever that was out there.

"hey, hey, hey, no reason to go violent!" the voice continued, still the man with the red pony tail couldn't see anyone.

"then show yourself!" Reno yelled, but this time the man didn't response, until the man with the pony tail saw a person right behind himself. "you-" he gasped.

--  
_a little longer chapter this time, hope you enjoy it. Reviews are welcome. Who do you think the man that was following Reno was? Wait and see! ;) and thanks for the reviews so far! They're appreciated! _


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Chapter 8  
why did this happen to me? ****  
**

Zack's mako eyes were filled up with salt tears as he drove home. He had a feeling that something had been wrong, and he was right. Tifa was still in love with Cloud, and he was too late. After all it was his own fault, he made it look like he had broken up with Tifa, let her go. But deep inside himself, he still loved her. He couldn't erase his mistakes anyway, still he did wonder how this could happen to him, but he had to go on, forget Tifa and how much he loved her. He couldn't stand the pain of missing her much more, but she loved another guy, and he had to accept that.

He hadn't felt like this since the day Angeal had died.

"congratulations, idiot! You just lost a girl, the first girl you've ever had feelings for since Aerith… Cloud's taken both of them, what a friend he is… a real good friend! NOT! Friends aren't supposed to go around and steal other friends' dates or whatever I should call her! He's false!" he hissed as he drove down the road. The heartbeat from his heart roared in his ears.

Tifa started sobbing, and Yuffie looked at her with disappointed eyes. Everyone had thought lately that Cloud was over Aerith, that he had let her go, but this was the moment she had used to have nightmares about before. "H-he d-dosen't… love me the way I love him anyway… there's nothing I can do Yuff!" the older one continued sobbing and buried her face into Cloud's chest. The blonde one didn't react to her touch; he was just lying on th floor, bloody with his eyes closed.

"Aerith…" he mumbled with his eyes shut, and Tifa pulled back. Aerith was gone, and the brunet couldn't stand hearing one single word more about how much he loved the girl in the pink dress. It just injured too much. She was trembling and buried her face down into her hands, they had known each other for so long, and she was so sure that it was something special going on. And then the pink dressed girl had come into the picture and stolen his heart before she had even planned to do it.

Tifa looked feared at Cloud for some seconds, and then she ran out of the church and leaved Cloud alone. Yuffie peered after Tifa and sighed.

"Teef! Come back here! Don't run, he's only beaten badly up, I'm pretty sure that he loves you too! He's thinking clearly!" Yuffie stood in the middle of the lilies, but Tifa was far gone, and then the young girl dumped down into the lilies and sighed loud. The ninja turned around again and looked at the beaten up guy in the grass. "What the… am I going to do with you?! Trouble maker!" she groaned. The thought of lifting him up and carrying home scared her, she was strong, but not that strong, and beside, Cloud was taller than her, his legs would hang out and his neck would probably break. "I'm going to need a truck to fix this!" she mumbled. "or a miracle from the planet" she added. "Oh Gaia! I'm in trouble!" she shook her head and sat herself down next to Cloud again. The ninja stroke through the blonde guys silk soft spikes. Her conclusion was to call Vincent and help him get Cloud back to 7th Heaven, if he still was welcome there. She took up her phone, but then she remembered, Vincent didn't have a phone but he was going to get one. "Crap… I forgot that about our emo king." She hissed.  
Zack had returned back to his home again, he put his hand down in one of the pockets, searching for the key, and opened his front door. His mother lay on their couch; something she didn't usually did, unless she was nervous over something. The black spike haired guy walked over and pulled the blanket over her. After that he walked up his stairs again and opened the door to his bedroom. The walls in his room were light brown, he settled back on his bed, throwing the pillow down on the floor. The bed sank under the weight of his body. What bothered him the most of all was how little Tifa seemed to care about him…? And how little see seemed to be interacting with the whole world around her. He had no plans about sleeping yet, he wanted to think about things. Zack licked his pale coloured lips and glared out his window. How wanted to make it better for her, but he knew that he couldn't.

The morning sun made his skin look pale, or maybe it was that pale because he hadn't eaten real food for awhile. His skin was light, with a small touch of golden shine. He hadn't slept at all the whole night. And it bothered him still… the fact that he loved Tifa so much. The wet grass outside his window spoiled last night's storm. He was glad he had a roof over his head, and wasn't soaked wet. He could hear his mother coming up the stairs, and dumped down on his bed again. The female outside his door knocked on it several times, but Zack didn't answer her.

"Zack, its breakfast!" she sang, and Zack hissed in his bed. "Look, if you don't eat or drink, you'll end up skinny, and you'll die! You don't need to eat something, just drink something! It's up to you!" she continued, but stopped for awhile, she knew that Zack was depressed, and regretted the things she had said about drinking. "I don't say that it is ok for you to drink alcohol, no matter how depressive you are! Even though you're over 18, dosen't means I'll allow you!" she finished, and Zack curled up into a ball in his bed.

"Go away!" he growled, but his mom didn't go, she had heard that one before, the day after Angeal's death. He was even ill, drunk or sulking over something. She didn't listen to him and entered his room. The first thing that met her was the white feather filled pillow that he had thrown across the room, and into her face. "I said go away!" he repeated.

"Zack? What's wrong?" she wondered with a soft, comforting voice, but Zack snuggled his face into his mattress. It was nothing she could do anyway. All she could hear was low sobs from him. "Zack, did someone hurt you?" she continued, he was surprisingly quiet now, and lifted his head slowly up from his pillow. Two wet, red puppy eyes was the first thing that met her, and then the pale skin. He didn't look well at all. His lower lip began to tremble, and he caught it savagely between his teeth.  
Tifa was soaked wet after yesterday night's rain. Her brown, wet bangs hang down her face, and her clothes was wet and covered in mud. Cloud had been her closest friend, they'd grown up together. But now she realized that their friendship, would never ever be anything else than a regular friendship.  
_short chapter again, so sorry. The next chapter will be longer. Promise! _


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**Chapter 9  
Love triangles  
**His bedroom was pitch dark, the curtains was shut, and his closet door was open. All of Zack's clothes were on the floor. No light could be seen buy the human eye, but it was like this he liked it while he was depressed. His black spikes were unkempt, and his eyes were bloodshot after all the tears. Zack could hear the phone ringing in the floor under his room, but he didn't bother to walk down the stairs and answer the call. After a few seconds, he could hear his mom's soft voice downstairs, and then someone walking in the stairs. His mother opened the door, and held the phone in her left hand, with a huge grin on her face. Zack was curious on why she looked so unnaturally happy, and raised one of his dark eyebrows.

"someone wants to talk-" she didn't get the chance to finish before Zack grabbed the phone and held it against his ear.

"Tifa?!" he muttered, and heard a light chuckling in the other end, and the he realized by the voice that it wasn't Tifa; it was one of his friend from **SOLDIER**.

"not quite" Kunsel laughed, and Zack got a disappointed look on his face. "I asked your mom how she felt after your loss, and she knew how good friends we were, still are in fact, I believe, so then she told me that you were still alive. Not the meaning of being to curious, but who's Tifa?" Zack had expected that question, especially from Kunsel. He wasn't really sure what to answer, should he tell him that Tifa was a regular girl, one of his new friends, or someone he had feelings for. His words felt like they were stuck in his throat, and he closed his mako coloured eyes. "Zack… are you still there?" Kunsel wondered after a long while with only silence.

"you'll have to pay me, if you want the answer out of me?" Zack joked, and Kunsel laughed again. The light chuckle in the other end of the phone made the back haired guy smile, with his snow white teeth, for the first time since the incident with Tifa. And his mother felt a relief floating through her. He was going to be all right, soon. She knew that, he would be himself again.

"Gee, not a bright time Zack, I'm broke." Kunsel laughed, and Zack walked off his bed and over to his window, opening the curtains and lot the bright, golden sunlight come in. "but what happened to that Aerith girl?! I thought you two had something going on!" he protested, and didn't really know that Aerith was dead.

"Aerith's dead, Kunsel." Kunsel's mouth dropped open; he had no idea and didn't see that answer coming from his friend.

"oh, I'm sorry… I didn't know." He murmured with a low voice, while Zack brushed his black hair out of his eyes.

"it's ok… you couldn't know that" Zack assured him and his mother leaved him alone, she was already on her way down the stairs. She sat herself down in their couch and turned on their TV. Zapping through the channels, but she didn't really find anything that suited her. The only thing thy sent today, was sport and football. She had never ever felt the same obsession over the football as her husband had. She felt a relief, because her husband was at work, and not at home, watching football.

"did your mother receive our "sorry for the loss flowers?" Kunsel wondered, and Zack looked at one of the tables not far away from him, yeah, the flowers sure where there. Red roses, it was at least 20 of them. And his closest friends had signed the card.

"yeah, she did… why?" he wondered and bit his lower lip.

"are you really interested in that Tifa girl?"

"kind of" he mumbled, and he heard Kunsel laugh in the other end.

"Yes or no?" Kunsel's voice was calm, so calm that Zack didn't know if he should answer his friend or not.

"I" Zack started, but he was interfered by Kunsel. Zack wouldn't appreciate the rest of this conversation, it was like e couldn't take care of himself or solve out his own problems. But something also came through his mind, he knew Kunsel, he knew that he wouldn't give up that easily.

"just answer the question, Zack"

"I guess I am" he admitted the fact that he thought that Tifa was a great girl, and what he felt for her.

"the flowers should still be in a fine shape, maybe you could just drop the "sorry for your loss" card and give the flowers to her?"

"maybe"

"Come on! She would love those flowers!"

"Aerith would love those flowers…" Zack mumbled disappointed, and Kunsel made a disapproving sound.

"Don't be stupid! So would Tifa do, you know that!" He said convincing, and Zack closed his mako enchanted eyes.

"She's interested in an other guy" he opened his eyes again and peered ut the wet window. He thought that everything looked so peacefully after some rain, everything was so clean, and evidences of yesterday's incidences would be washed away.

"are they together?" Kunsel sounded curious and friendly at the same time. Zack shook his head for himself and glared at the white door that leaded into his room.

"I don't know" he mumbled, so low that Kunsel had to concentrate to hear what his friend was telling him. Kunsel sighed and crossed his arms.

"why don't you fight to get her back?" Zack heard his friend's question, but he wasn't sure about the answer either. It seemed like he had stopped fighting, but wasn't sure why. It could be that Cloud was his best friend, and he wanted him to be happy.

"because I want her to be happy!" it took him awhile before those words leaved his lips, but Kunsel wasn't done with him yet.

"She'll be happy, when she's back with you! Now go back there and talk to her!" Kunsel protested, and Zack thought over it. If he did something drastic, his chances of loosing what he had going with Tifa, would be gone with the wind. He wouldn't do anything that would ruin their friendship.

"Kunsel…" this was it. Zack was sure of it, as he'd ever been of anything in his life. He wanted Tifa to be his girlfriend, but the competition from Cloud annoyed him so much that he wasn't able to think clearly.

"Keep your pie whole shut and get your ass movin' and get over there to her and talk to her! You do love her, am I right?" Kunsel's patience had started to run out now, he was tired of how much Zack sulked abut that girl, instead of going out there and do something himself.

"I-" he hesitated, but knew that Kunsel wouldn't give up that easily.

"confess it!" Zack recognized the obsession in Kunsel's voice; he'd heard it there before and as often in his own. Obsession made a good SOLDIER. It had also broken a few. Obsession could be positive or negative, and in this case, Zack wasn't sure if it was positive obsession or negative.

"I love her!" he mumbled, but Kunsel didn't talk about it anymore, at least. After hanging up the phone, and frowned. He really wanted to get out, find Tifa and talk to her, that was what his heart wanted to do, but he wasn't sure what his brain wanted to do, to call her, find her, or leave her alone. Hearing himself admit to someone that he loved a girl, after a long time, was weird. He hadn't imagined himself saying those words for a long, long time. Zack wasn't sure if his imagination had tricked himself saying those words, or if he really had told Kunsel that he loved Tifa. Maybe he should search for her, yeah, that was what he was going to do. He rushed down the stairs and grabbed his coat and went out of his home. But he wasn't really sure of where he should start searching, and had a hope that he would find her in the end.

Yuffie broke into a run. The dark hair flew behind her in the wind, and Cloud came huffing behind her.

"If something has happen to her, I'll never be able to forgive myself." Cloud followed her, considerably more slowly. Yuffie had to stop and swallow her grief before she continued. "I… need your help loud. To find Tifa and Zack. They could be murdered, or hit their head or something. Seriously hurt Cloud."

Murdered, that was defiantly more serious than Cloud had been expecting. "Does **AVALANCHE** know that they're missing?"

"They don't exactly know…" Yuffie hadn't seen that question coming, and lowered her head and mumbled those words. Cloud sighed and rolled his eyes, the biggest wound on his arm was still bleeding, and it still injured him, but he had promised Yuffie to help her finding Zack and Tifa.

" what do you mean by "they don't exactly know?" please tell me, because I'm dying to know!" Cloud could think of several things it might mean and absolutely none of them appealed to him. He had been almost aware of that Yuffie would have forgotten that. His blonde spikes were pale golden in the bright sunlight. It was no signs left of the storm.

"I'm sorry! I know I should have told them before I went ut to look for them myself, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-" this time the panic came together with her words, and Cloud gave her a sympathetic look.

"Hey, it was a mistake, right? Everyone makes mistakes sometimes Yuffie!" but Yuffie didn't answer him, she just looked at him with huge eyes while she bit her lower lip.

_Here, that's chapter 9, I promise to update soon, thanks for all the hits, the reviews and for reading my story. It's a little bit longer this time, but I'll start on chapter 10 right ahead, so I'll update even later this week, or next week._


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 **

**Where**** does the lost one go?  
**The night was pitch dark, but still the moon and the stars shine as good as they could, through the thin, misty blanket of clouds. The light from the streetlamps bounced off pale concrete. The dark-haired woman shoved her hands deeper into the pockets of her black leather jacket. She knew that it was cold at night now, but not cold like this. It felt like she was going to freeze own death. And so far, no one had come after her, trying to find her, searching for her. ****

Tifa up drifted into consciousness thinking_, this has got to stop, and I have to get back. But I don't know where to go. _She'd been conscious now for some time and had been lying quietly, with her brown eyes closed. Waiting for the pounding at her temples to stop echoing between her ears. Time was of the essence, but a sudden movement would make her puke her guts ut, and Tifa couldn't see where that movement would help her right now. It was better to wait, to gather strength, and to move when she might actually have some effect.

Her tongue licked her bloody lips, and then the next thing she tasted was blood. And she could feel the warm, red moisture dribbling down from her nose. She was soaked wet after the rain, and the wet rain had gone through her fabric shirt. She was going to catch pneumonia if she wasn't careful. She would try to get back to 7th heaven, as soon as she felt like she could move again.

"This is ridiculous" she hissed, and dried away the blood under her nose. The fog made it hard to see, it was like it was some kind of blurry on her eyes. And she didn't remember how she had started to feel pain and how she'd ended up with nosebleed. All she knew was that her body was absolutely limp. Tifa could hear her phone ringing, but couldn't manage to move her arm and pick up the small phone from her pocket. The brunet drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. It has been hours since she's left the slum church, seen Yuffie and Cloud, and Zack.

Zack groaned loud when all he got was her voice mail. Zack clutched at the front of his pale, blue sweater with one hand and peered anxiously at the telephone screen in front of him. His mako coloured eyes darted at the road waiting for upcoming messages, and then his eyes glared at the mobile screen again. But no, no messages for him yet.

"Damn Tifa! It's rude not to pick up!" Zack hissed as he drove his motorcycle down the motor road, no signs of Tifa so far. All he prayed for was her to be all right. His black spikes flew in the wind as he drove on, she could be anywhere, in the forest, or maybe in her own bar. And searching all by himself wasn't exactly easy.

He tried to call her again, but all he heard was her answering machine, and it annoyed him more and more. The fact that Tifa didn't answer, bothered him badly. She always used to answering his calls.

Zack drove into the forest, and slowed down the speed a little. He couldn't go as fast as he wished in here, he would end up with serious injuries, and then he couldn't find her and help her. the darkness confused his vision, what he didn't know what that he was closer to where Tifa was than he knew himself.

The dark haired man speeded up his motorcycle again, but stopped in the middle of the dark, forest. Everything was dark, and he had problems with seeing straight.

"I don't know! She's been acting strange lately!" Yuffie muttered as Cloud looked concerned at her.  
They exchanged glances over the table. Cloud opened his mouth to speak but his mate's expression caused him to close it again. Now was not the right time for explanations.

"Yuffie" the blonde man started, but Yuffie shook her head. "Look, Tifa is strong you know, she'll be fine, she's been through more danger than this! This is nothing compared to the other stuff she has experienced!" Cloud said, but Yuffie still didn't look convinced, maybe they should've contacted **AVALANCHE** and make them help them with the searching. Then again, they had better things to do than help Cloud and Yuffie.

"A wolf may have eaten her! Think about that, chocobo!" the girl yelled and slapped the blonde man gently on his shoulder. He gazed directly into the Yuffie's eyes. The girl frowned and shook her head, and tried to calm her pounding heart.

_I'm sorry for this short chapter guys, but the next one will be over 2000 words. I just hadn't very good time this time. Again, I'm so sorry, and I've started on a Yuffie/Vincent fiction, I'll soon upload it! Promise! _


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

**Chapter 11:  
Safe from danger  
**Tifa woke up and stared blindly up at the strong, blue heaven over her head, uncertain of where she was. The green grass under her felt quite familiar, the brunet heard footsteps not far away from herself, and tried to get herself over in a sitting position, to check out who it was. The footsteps stopped next to her, but she had still some problems with moving, and then she heard someone sigh.

"I found you… even though I had no idea you would be in this shape" the boy over her muttered soft and sat himself down next to her. His mako coloured eyes scanned the girl beneath for damages, but so far it was just some wounds here and there. "Lets get you home, huh? Unless you want to stay here" he joked, but got serious again when she didn't laugh with him. He took one of his arms under her knee, and one behind her back and lifted her up. She made a low, pained sound as she was in his arms, and he apologized and walked back to there he had parked his motorcycle.  
After nearly an hour with driving, Zack had managed to get back to his own house. He went up the stairs to his room, with Tifa in his arms. The dark haired man opened his bedroom door, and placed Tifa careful down on his mattress, then he leaved the room and closed the door silent after him.

A few minutes later Zack returned to his room and sat himself down on the edge of his bed, on the white sheet. Tifa lay with her head on a white pillow, on her stomach. the dark haired man glanced at the sleeping woman next to himself.

Tifa came to herself again, and peered up into the ceiling in the room. This wasn't her room, this wasn't 7th Heaven. The room felt unfamiliar, and the dimensions wrong, and by judging the man beside her, it was Zack's room.

"welcome back!" he murmured softly and patted her head. The woman's brown forehead hair looked fluffy after she had slept on the pillow.

"what happened?" she wondered and pinched the bridge of her nose. He looked confused, but smiled a little. He peered out the window, not sure what he should tell her, he could lie, but then again lying wasn't nice at all. But the truth was a little bit complicated, and he wasn't really sure of what he should tell her.

"that was what I'd hoped you could answer me… and by the way, you're in my room, if you wondered" that was the best he could come up with? Man, he felt like a total looser at the moment, but he had to break that embarrassing silence that had filled the room. She looked around in his room, and nodded before she replied.

""thought so" she replied with a smile, and he looked at her white teethes, it was like they were taken out of a tooth past commercial.

"what do you think?" he laid himself back on his bed again, and Tifa used a few moments to scan the room with her eyes before she judged it. It didn't look that bad, at least it was clean, and not many boy rooms were clean. Or had a system at all.

"about your room?" she hesitated and he nodded.

"uh-huh" she bit her lower lip as she tried to find something nice to say, and after awhile she had found something.

"well, it's clean at least… one of the best male rooms I've seen for a good while" she said with a grin, and he touched her palm gently, but pulled his hand away again when she reacted on his touch. She didn't bother to say anything to him, or protest, but his cheeks turned a pale pink colour.

"pleases me to hear that" Zack muttered and glared at her.

"where's Cloud?" her question came so unexpected that Zack felt his heart sank in his chest, she still wanted to send time with Cloud, even though she was in his room. The dark haired man had hoped that she would miss him a little too,

"I don't know Tifa…" he lied, but didn't really care if he lied this time. But he was a terrible liar, and Tifa knew that Zack lied.

"oh well, I don't care anyway… he's not done with Aerith, even though she's dead." She muttered soft, and the man with the mako enchanted eyes grinned.

"what's dead should stay dead… there's nothing else he can do than move on!" he agreed, and the brunette nodded soft.

"pleases me to hear that, you're right." He didn't think over the situation, and kissed Tifa soft on her cheek. Her brown eyes widened a bit, and Zack pulled himself back and blushed. It was a long moment of silence, before Zack came up with something to say again. His mako enchanted eyes tried to look up at the ceiling, but his little incident had made him so embarrassed that he wasn't sure where he should or should not look.

"I'm sorry" he sighed and looked at her with eyes that wanted safeness and comfort, but she shook her head gently and smiled bright to him. Her left palm covered his cheek and he smiled back to her.

"no… don't be sorry… you didn't do anything wrong you know…" Tifa assured him and smiled gently at him. He had kissed her, who cared if it was on her cheek? It was still worth it, it was still a start. And for a long time, he was the first one that had ever cared, and wanted to be together with her.

_Authors note:  
Sorry, short chapter, but it was at least a kiss in there, right? So I did make thing all right again, didn't I? Longer chapter next time, I promise!  
Characters (C) Square Enix. _


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Chapter 12  
**_Lonely_  
Tifa peered inside the fridge door, she was hungry, and Zack stared at her from one of the kitchen chairs behind her. the dark haired man yawned, and stretched himself, the brown haired woman had seen him last night, and he hadn't slept at all, he had used the night to stare up at the room ceiling.

"when was the last time you got some sleep?" Tifa wondered and finally caught Zack's attention; he shook his head and stared at her with bloodshot eyes.

"Monday I think…" he replied after awhile, and Tifa smiled. The answer wasn't as bad as she had thought it was going to be.

"Ate?" she continued, and he gave her a confused look. Mako eyes half closed and her own brown eyes stayed at the boy in front of her.

"what?"

"when was the last time you ate something? And I don't want a reply about some metallic box food! I mean a real meal, something you made yourself!" Tifa crossed her arms under her beasts, and Zack looked like he was thinking over it. His black forehead hair fell down in his face, and he shook his head barely and looked back at Tifa.

"I-" he hesitated, but she didn't bother to interfere, not yet, he had his chance to tell her now, and she wouldn't stress him too badly, early in the morning.

"you" she said after a while, when it seemed like he had fallen asleep with his eyes open. His mako enchanted eyes met her for a moment, and Zack sighed.

"I don't remember" there, he had told her know, it wasn't his fault really, he had a thing with putting others before himself, and Tifa sat herself down on one of the kitchen chairs next to him.

"All right, hungry now?" she wondered, but he shook his head and smiled a little, nearly.

"no"

"Zack, you got to eat, or else you'll end up skinny as a corpse, and die!" the woman protested, and Zack started to get annoyed over the fact that she tried to control him, she couldn't force him to eat, she was totally aware of that, but still the only things she had told him, was true.

"don't tell me what I should do! You're not my mom!" the reply sounded more like it had come from a rebellion, and he closed his mouth.

The silence filled the room for awhile, and she bit her lower lip. And Zack sighed; he hadn't meant it that way. Nor had he meant to hurt Tifa's feelings.

"fine… no food then" she rose from the chair and peered out the kitchen window. Their eyes didn't meet anymore, and it was like the woman in front of himself tried to ignore him.

"you make food?" after a long while, the man broke the silence, but the brown haired woman didn't turn around to face him.

"huh?" she wondered while she stared at the blood red roses outside the kitchen window, the scent was one of the most beautiful things she had ever smelled before, and Zack rose from his own kitchen chair and walked over to her.

"you know how to make food for yourself?" she still didn't even glare at him, so he stole a glance of her while she wasn't looking. They weren't real a couple yet, but they had already started to behave like they were married. He knew that was probably because he hadn't had the guts to ask her to be his girlfriend yet.

"sure, why?"

"I failed the food lessons at school" it was more like a confession that anything else, and Tifa struggled with holding back a small laugh, she could see Zack on a kitchen, cutting carrots up in smaller pieces, especially after what she had seen of his fighting skills. Maybe he used his Buster Sword to cut up the vegetables.

"isn't that typically men? They need females, or else they die! You can't live the rest of your life on pizza and hamburgers! You need some other food sometimes too!" he licked his dry lips and stared at the female in front of himself. She turned around and stared at him again, with a teasing grin on her own lips. Her hands still crossed under her breasts.

"I know that!" he protested, even though he knew that there were some really good men out there who could make the most incredible meals ut there.

"males food basically is of Pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, beer, and other stuff that can be made in 5 minutes!" she continued, and Zack recognized the food she had muttered and felt himself blush, that was most of what his day meals where made of.

"yeah, all right, make something if you want then! But hot dogs are damn good you know!" his low protests was barely able to be heard, but Tifa did, and smiled bright as she heard the thing at the end about the hot dogs.

"so you're hungry!" _'That's not weird at all after all the food things we've talking about lately, who wouldn't get hungry after this? It's like torture!' _he thought and opened his mouth, ready to answer, but wouldn't piss her off so he closed his mouth again and came up with a new reply.

"only a little" he admitted, and Tifa smiled. He just looked adorable, if she had hand cuffs, she would probably attach him to the kitchen chair, so she was aware of that he would never leave her. Tifa felt like she was pretty much over Cloud right at the moment, and just wanted the black haired guy in front of her. The room was silent again, and she wasn't really sure of what she could say to him at the moment.

"you know if you don't eat, your hair will fall off and your mussels will disappear!" well, at least that was true, and she knew that he was proud of the body he had at the moment, nor did she want to scare him too much. He looked at her with widened eyes, and she sighed.

"you're kidding, right?" she shook her own head, and he hated that he felt so good damn calm when she was around, so safe… no other girl had really taken care of him the way she did, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not, from the beginning of his childhood, he had always taken care of himself, and Aerith had cared too, but she had never opened a fridge door to convince him to eat!

"no!" her reply was dry, and she looked seriously, deeply into his eyes.  
"What does your tummy want to eat? I can make sandwiches, sounds all right?" she turned around again and headed for the fridge, opened the door and scanned what she had bought lately this week.

"yeah, sure!" this time he was the one that crossed his arms, under his chest and stared at the girl that had started to make sandwiches, confused over the fact that Tifa was really willing to do this for him. Tifa stood with her back in front of him, and Zack pouted, _'like my hair will fall off!'_ he thought, and glared out the kitchen window. _'I bet it was something she said to scare the hell out of me, so she could force me to eat!' _Zack immediately felt bad, he should be glad that someone else than his mentor wanted to take care of him, but then again, Angeal was gone now. He had been gone for a long while, so maybe he should accept Tifa's company and stay happy.

The sandwiches didn't taste bad, not at all; in fact those sandwiches were something he hadn't been eating for awhile. He stared at the glass, filled with water in front of him. He didn't have any idea of complaining, there wasn't one mistake in those sandwiches, they was perfect.

Tifa sipped from her own water, and looked at Zack. At least he ate now, and she couldn't complain, nor could she feel guilty, because all the things she had said to him was true, it was important to eat! Her brown forehead hair fell down in her face, and she stroked it away again as soon as she had felt it irritating her brown eyes.

"I'm going to Wutai…" Zack's trembling voice broke the silence, and Tifa's eyes stared at the man in front of herself, why would he go to Wutai? He wasn't even in SOLDIER anymore. Tifa felt herself getting confused and angry, he hadn't mentioned anything about Wutai before now, why now?

"how have you planned to get there?" the sarcastic tone in her voice made Zack's eyes widen, and then they were half closed, he didn't like the idea of leaving her either, but he had planned to meet a couple of friends months ago, and had forgotten everything about it, but since he was leaving next week, he had remembered it again.

"Tifa..." he sighed and tried to lay his palm on hers, but she pulled her own hand out of his firm grip and rose from her chair again and stopped when she had reached a distance between them.

"Train, boat, ferry, bus, car or something else?" she continued in her sarcastic tone and looked more disappointed than furious, and Zack felt bad. He had no idea that she would react like this, and that made him want to stay right here more than ever.

"Tifa… listen…" he tried to continue, but she cut him off again.

"Or maybe jogging?" she didn't notice the sad expression he had on his face, and continued in her sarcastic tone, and Zack shook his head and sighed louder than he had planned to do.

"Tifa… I have to get there…" he explained, and Tifa looked disappointed. Her expression was heartbreaking for him to watch, and he waited for her reply before he said anything else.

"why?" she screamed, frustrated as hell. She slammed her right fist in the wall, and Zack stared at her with the same frustrated expression on his own face now.

"I've planed to see a couple of friends there…" he continued, but Tifa cut him off again and looked at him with tears in her brown eyes.

"When had you planned to tell me?" she had calmed a little bit now, voice definitely lower than before, and the sarcasm was gone.

"Listen…" he rose from his chair and tried to embrace her, but she got herself away from him and stared at him with disappointed eyes.

"The day before you left?" it was nearly mumbling now, and a question, not sarcasm like earlier in their conversation.

"please, let me finish!" he cut her off this time and tried to smile to her, but she didn't smile back. She just stared at him with blank eyes, and waited for him to reply.

"How long are you gone, and when do you leave, and when are you back?" she continued as he didn't answer her question, and their eyes met again. Wet brown eyes and sad mako enchanted eyes.

"I leave next week… I'll be gone for four months…" he mumbled and her eyes widened. She looked at him in disbelief and sighed. Four months without seeing him would kill her, slowly. Four months sure was a lot!

"For months!?" she repeated and he nodded, sadly. This time Tifa was the one that hugged him, maybe he was going to be gone for four months, but it wouldn't make it better that she was pissed off. She had calmed herself down now, and smiled.

"unfortunately…" he hesitated, but laid his own arms around her waist after awhile, and she smiled bigger. Sure she was going to miss him, and he was going to miss her, but maybe that was what they needed. They had spent so much time with each other lately that they hadn't really felt how it would be to miss each other, but now they definitely would.

"and you're back…" she mumbled into his chest, and his hand ran down her brown hair. She hugged him tighter, and he smiled too.

"four months from today… on a Saturday" he explained, it was a long time alone, but it didn't matter, seriously, she loved him, and that was enough to win over the long distance and the time they wouldn't be seeing each other.

"I'll miss you" he barely heard her, but smiled and sighed low.

"I'll miss you too!" it wasn't a lie; he would miss her, a lot. The scent of her hair was wonderful, and it was one of her favourite shampoo types. He knew that he was probably going to be lonely for those four months, but it wasn't like he was going to die, nor going to forget Tifa. He knew it would take time, but sooner of later, they would be together again.

For a time, Tifa had felt herself only as a friend of Zack, and wasn't really sure of how he looked at her. And he hadn't asked her to be anything more yet, more than a friend, but she did have a feeling that he felt the same for her as she felt for him, and that wasn't a friendship, it was love.  
And who knew what would happen in future? Maybe they would end up like a couple after some time and maybe they could be more, only the time would show them.

Authors note: _Okay… a looong chapter this time… hope you enjoy it, characters belongs to (C) Square Enix. I don't own the characters, but I did use a lot of time on this one. Thanks for the replies so far, they're great, and I do like that there are some people out there who like my stories! _


	13. Chapter 13

Love again

**Love again**  
Chapter 13  
Separate ways.

Zack stared at Tifa for a few seconds; she cocked her head to one side. Only one week left until he left her. She wet her own lips and brown eyes gazed into mako enchanted eyes. Away for four months, she couldn't handle that. She would miss him, she was sure about that. She sat in his car, watched him drive and sighed again.

"What the hell are you doing?" Zack slipped the car into neutral. He gazed into her brown eyes, lips curved into a small grin. Mako enchanted eyes met brown and Zack burst into laughter. Tifa crossed her arms and he grinned.

"I'm stopping at a yellow light." He explained and pointed at the traffic light; Tifa sighed and rolled her eyes. Brown eyes gazed into mako coloured eyes for a second, she looked away and out the window. _Stopping at a yellow light is stupid, speed up, or else I'll do it myself! _She thought and chewed on her lower lip. _Start the car, now Zack! _But he didn't, the car stood still, and she hated it.

"Why?" Tifa murmured and stared at the dark road in front of them. He smirked and crossed his arms and stared at the red light. He enjoyed the moment when it turned yellow to red, because then he knew that she couldn't force him to go on.

"Tifa, a yellow light does not mean speed up, there's a red light coming." He muttered and glanced at the attractive brown haired woman next to him. She closed her eyes and waited for the green light, while he held his eyes at the red light. Tifa opened her mouth, and closed it after a few moments. He mused at the red light and laughed, she seemed irritated, he could understand that, but a yellow light was a yellow light.

"Why don't I drive?" she murmured and Zack snorted, looked at Tifa and then his lips curved into a grin. She, drive the car? It had to be a joke, it just had to.

"Why don't we compromise? Tifa, shut up and I'll speed up!" He just couldn't hold back anymore, 24 minutes of complaining was more than enough. The woman hissed low words for herself and Zack tapped his fingers at the seat. It felt like the red light lasted forever, and Tifa sighed, shifted position in the seat and groaned.

"This is seriously bad…" she growled and Zack's eyes stayed at the red light, he had no plans about driving any further before the light was completely green.

"Stop insulting the driver!" Zack murmured and Tifa snorted and brushed some brown hair out of her face. _It has gone 26 minutes, and it feels like it'll never end! _She thought and stared at the red light.

"Then stop bullshit me!" she informed him and crossed her own arms for a moment. Then it was completely silence, no one said anything for several minutes, not even a small noise in the car. The light turned yellow and she hit him friendly.  
"The light's yellow, drive on!" She added, but he didn't even start the car.  
"What the hell? I said start the car!" still the car stood still and she tried to start the car herself, leaned over his lap, but he remained control.  
"Zack!" she growled, the light turned green and he started the car. She flew back in her seat, stared at the man with widened eyes and growled.  
"Zack, stop the car!" he drove way too fast, and she clawed at her seat. He shook his head and she looked at him.  
"Please?" he shook his head again; he was tired of her moaning.  
"Fine, I'll shut up because you're not even listening to a word of what I'm saying!" she informed him, crossed her arms and pouted.

"When will you stop acting like a kid?" Zack murmured and started the car as soon as the light turned green.

"So you won't ignore me totally, huh?" Tifa murmured a small smile curved her thin lips; he grinned back and shook his head. She stared out the car window and the streets.

"Man… right now I wish I had something to push… I feel like I need something to push" the dark haired man admitted, and Tifa grinned, crossed her arms under her breast and snorted. He gave her a curious look, opened his mouth, but closed it again.

"Or someone…" She joked; her eyes widened as he stopped the car, turned to her and gave her a snort. Her brown hair fell down in her face, but she brushed it away again some moments later. Maybe she was unfair, maybe it just was because she was scared of loosing him, and four months without him would probably get tougher than she had thought. Zack closed his mako enchanted eyes and crossed his arms, refused to start the car again before they had solved their problems out.

"Tifa!" he growled, opened his eyes and pushed the brown haired lady friendly. She rolled her brown eyes, thank God they were on the country side, or else the other drivers would have ended up pissed because they had stopped on the middle of the road.

"What?!" Tifa murmured and looked at him. Zack sighed, rolled his mako enchanted eyes and started the car again. Zack's driving made it hard to be sorry, he drove way too fast, but he didn't seem to slow down either.  
The sound of the shower had been going on for a long time. When it finally shut off, Zack came down the stairs and glanced at the woman next to the table. The two of them looked at each other across the width of the room. There was a long pause, she opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and shuddered instead.

"Are you okay?" The dark haired man wondered, she stared at him with her brown eyes, crossed her arms, lips curved into a small, curious smile.

"I'm sorry… I snapped… I didn't mean-" Tifa started, but the dark haired man cut her off and grinned.

"I know…it's all right you know…"he assured her and patted her shoulder, he gazed into her brown eyes for a moment, and then she looked away and closed them. She wasn't sure of what she should tell him; there was nothing she could say to convince him to stay anyway. She fought the salt tears in her eyes and looked at the black haired man again. The brown haired woman sighed and hugged him tight for a moment. She had always been struggling with showing her feelings and how to tell people how she really felt. All she knew at the moment was that she wouldn't give him away, because then she couldn't take him back, and she wanted to live her life together with him. She would regret the rest of her life if she gave him up.

"It's just… I'm going to miss you… like a lot…" Tifa whispered into his ears. He closed his mako enchanted eyes and hugged her tight back. She trembled and fought the urge to burst into tears.

"Hey, I'm going to miss you too, you know…" Zack whispered back and grinned.

_Authors note: half long chapter I guess… i still own nothing, characters are (C) to Square Enix, I'll try to update as soon as I can._

/Siren


	14. Chapter 14

Love again

**Love again**  
_Chapter 14:  
Fallen_

Four hours left until he would be gone, four more hours and then she wouldn't see him again until May. Four months from today.  
Even though it wasn't four years, it still felt sad, and she was going to be alone- again.  
She also knew that he would come back, at least she hoped- no believed he would come back. The brunette bit her lower lip and stared out the window, fought the tears in her eyes and she turned and faced the dark haired man in front of her.  
Zack cocked his head to one side and stared at the woman with the brown hair.

"Are you all right?" Zack glanced at her with her mako enchanted eyes; Tifa nodded and crossed her arms. Even though there still was some tears left in her eyes, but she blinked them away.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Tifa admitted with a small smile, he studied her face for a moment, and then sighed, sat himself onto the couch and glared at her, not rude but friendly.  
Man… she was going to miss him, she knew that, and he knew it as well. She still hadn't convinced him, he crossed his arms and tried to make her tell him how she really felt.  
Tifa pulled her leather pants up where they belonged; loosing her pants right in front of Zack would be too embarrassing.

"You sure?" Zack still wasn't convinced, he rested his chin in his cupped palm and stared at the woman in front of him.

"Yes" she brushed some of her brown hair out of her face and stared at the man with the black hair. She sat herself down onto the couch next to Zack and gazed into his mako enchanted eyes.

"Absolutely fine?" Zack wondered his dark eye brows drown down into a 'V' form; he stared at her, and then looked away out the window. He hadn't seen a sky so blue like this for a long time no, no clouds on the sky, no sign of bad weather at all, and the whole weather thing made it harder to leave, it would have been easier for him if there was pouring rain. He heard a car drive past his house once or twice and then there was nothing. All he could hear was her silent sigh.

"Zack, I told you, I'm fine." She rolled her brown eyes, even though she didn't mean to roll them. Two weeks ago she had thought they were going to spend more time with each other, but now she knew she was wrong, those two weeks had literally wings and had been gone with the wind.

"I'm going to miss you too, you know… I thought you knew that…" Zack murmured, gazed into her brown eyes and sighed, she nodded and looked away. She wanted to remember those mako coloured eyes, she really did. But now it only left her hurt to gaze into them. She opened her dry mouth, and then closed it again.

"I know" She tried to assure him, but he still could sense a problem or two. Even though she didn't tell him, he knew that something was wrong. Tifa paced around in his room, leather skirts whipping around her legs. She had feelings for him, strong feelings, even though he had been treated more than nice, she still couldn't tell him how she felt. She stopped pacing and raised her slender fingers to cover her heated cheeks. None of that mattered now, all that mattered at the moment, was to make sure that he wouldn't feel bad for leaving her.

"Then what's wrong?" his mako enchanted eyes had watched her all the time, he looked worried at her for a few seconds and then he looked away, out the door. He heard someone in the stairs, but didn't bother to see who it was. Tifa stared at the person and grinned, Zack's mom looked at her son for a moment, but since he sounded busy, she left and walked into the kitchen again.

"Nothing" Zack laced his fingers behind his head and stared at the woman with the brown hair in front of him. He didn't believe her, he could see that something was wrong, seriously wrong, and he wanted her to tell him, if there was something that bothered her. He also knew that Tifa wasn't the kind of girl who would tell him straight how she felt.

"I don't believe you" Zack had thought it wouldn't rain that day, but after ten minutes he knew he had been wrong, dark clouds gathered on the dark sky. It seemed like the clouds would let go of the rain they kept anytime now. He sighed an stared at Tifa again, crossed his arms and stared at the watch on his desk. Three and a half hour left until he was gone. He narrowed his mako eyes at Tifa, she shook her head gently, lips curved into a false smile.

"There's nothing, really!" she assured him, closed her brown eyes and sighed louder this time. He opened his mouth again to say something, but she cut him off and growled.  
"Zack!"

"Tifa!" the man with the dark hair barked back and stared at her, tears streamed down her cheeks, she made a disapproved sound and smirked. She could just tell him, he wouldn't give up easily.

"Fine, it's everything" She confessed, he looked at her, patiently, arms still crossed and eyes gazing into hers. And just as he'd thought, it started raining. Small, blank drops falling from the sky, hit the ground as her tears streamed down her cheeks, and he heard her sob a couple of times. He moved closer to her and placed one of his arms around her, the other one was hanging straight down his side. She snuggled her nose into his chest and sighed.  
"I don't want you to leave… I want you to stay here with me!" she sulked and fisted the back of his T-shirt. Zack ran his palm up and down her back.

"I know… but there's nothing I can do… and those four months will go faster than you know, you know. You'll be all right." She shook her head, brushed the brown hair out of her pale face and stared at the man with the dark hair in front of her. Zack chuckled and patted her back more, he knew that she would be all right, he just knew.

"I'm not sure…" Tifa murmured and looked up at him, gazed into his eyes. He nodded and kissed her forehead.

"But I'm sure…" he whispered, the only sound left was the rain, tapping at the top of the ceiling.

It had stopped raining, but the sky looked low enough to touch. It had gone two hours since Zack Had left her. Tifa was at 7th Heaven, dried the wet beer glasses and cleaned the tables.

"It's not like he's gone forever…" she reminded herself and sighed. At least she tried to convince herself about it. Even though she had been scared every time Cloud had told her he was going on a trip far away or something, but it was nothing like this. This time it was really different, four months was a lot.

Tifa stood by the window and glared at the people, as they walked past 7th Heaven. She knew that Zack would come back, and he would never ever leave her.

_  
__Authors note:  
half long chapter this time as well, As always, I own nothing, characters are (C) to Square Enix. Enjoy. _


	15. Chapter 15

Love again

**Love again**  
_Chapter 15:  
Alone Again_

Tifa Lockhart stared at the empty bed next to her, for a few days ago Zack had been right next to her and now he was gone. She sighed and placed her hands behind her head and then lay back on her own bed, still staring at Zack's. She brushed some of her brown hair out of her face and then sighed louder, shifted position in her bed and glared at the wall. Most of all she really looked forward to that day he returned. Even though she knew four months just wouldn't fly away that easily. She found a small note under his pillow and read it, sighed and closed her eyes. She hated when people did that to her, when she wasn't able to answer them. _I love you…_ she read the note over and over again, shifted position in the bed and opened her eyes again. The woman rose from the bed, got dressed, got dressed, ate some breakfast and went out to get some air.

Two teenaged girls passed her on the street, one sounded as she had a mouth full of braces, the other one sounded as if she had a mouth full of gum. The girl with the braces was tall, blonde, blue eyes, (definitely,) she wore a brown skirt and a white top, the other girl had black hair, longer than the other one, green eyes, wore a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

"… and like she was just pressing her breasts up against him…" the blonde girl sighed, rolled her eyes. The girl with the black hair raised one of her brows, cocked her head and looked at her friend.

"You mean… like she was pressing her padding up against him?" the black haired girl didn't seem to be very interested in what they were talking about, all she had heard was pressing and like. The girl with the blue eyes went furious, slapped her friend friendly on her shoulder and sighed.

"No!" the blond girl yelled, crossed her arms under her breast and closed her sky blue eyes. She opened her mouth to continue, but closed it again.

"Ah, now I get the picture…" the dark haired girl muttered, and the blond girl grinned and opened her eyes again.

"And then she has the nerve to say she really loves him…" the blonde girl continued, Tifa sighed, it hardly looked like the two girls had turned 13, and still they went around talking about love and stuff like that. Tifa was 21, she turned 22 soon.  
_And what do you kids now about love?  
_Tifa wondered as they moved out of earshot, _Zack Fair, 1__st__ class SOLDIER, says he loves me, what do you think about that? _The brown haired woman sighed and rolled her eyes. _What do I think about that? It's just like a man to want to complicate a perfect relationship, a friendship. A perfectly good friendship._

Actually, maybe those teenage girls know more about love than I do? I was 13, liked Cloud Strife, he never told me he loved me, not really, looked at me as his friend, a childhood friend, that was what he did. Then Zack Fair came into the picture, I always thought he loved Aerith, but all right, he dies, suddenly he's back from the dead, alive, flirting with me, telling me stuff he absolutely should keep to himself. I have to stop thinking; it's not good for me! She thought, still staring at the teenaged girls in front of her, but they were far away to hear them now, she had never been like that, not as she could remember, she hadn't really discussed boys with other girls when she was in her teen ages, it always ended up in a fight anyway, and it just wasn't worth fighting over a guy. She headed for 7th heaven, sighed and kicked some dead leaves on the ground.

Boys, or men, were absolutely a problem, they didn't exactly make things easier for her, and she had always been the type of girl, she liked to do things by herself, and didn't ask for help. She could fight, she could cook, and she was happy in the bar. Still, she did miss Zack, for some reason she wasn't sure of herself, and still there were over three months until she met him again. Tifa could handle a couple of months, couldn't she? At least she hoped she could handle it. And something told her that he was missing her just as much as she missed him. She found the key to 7th Heaven, used it in the lock and opened the door. _After all, he was the first one he met after he came back here, maybe he'll return to me as fast as he can? Over three months… I know I can handle that. _

_Woo, chapter 15, is done… I'm soon done with the whole story, I really like it… I think it's getting better, thanks for the reviews. I'll try to update as soon as I can, I own nothing, characters are (C) to Square Enix. Enjoy. _


	16. Chapter 16

Love Again Chapter 16Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep4 months had passed her by now; four lonely months. Ever since he had left her she had been unable to enjoy her days. What was joy anyway when he wasn't around her? She in front of the white door, and waited for Zack to return. The brunette squinted her eyes, she couldn't see Zack yet. Time passed, she stared at the watch. What time was it anyway? He'd promised her to return safely, and according to the time he was supposed to be here now. She couldn't live with this emptiness anymore, it felt as if there was no point anymore, and like nothing truly mattered.

She picked up her glass of water, and waited. There was no sign of Zack so far, and she had started to loose hope. She heard someone call out her name and then she rolled her eyes and wrinkled her nose. "Good, I've officially lost it, now I even believe that I can hear Zack" she muttered and dropped the glass. The pieces shattered everywhere, it wasn't a dream, and she hadn't lost it. The brunette could clearly see him now, as he came running in her direction. 'Oh God, this is just taken out of a cheesy love movie' she thought as she held her arms out.

"Tifa!" Zack yelled as he ran towards her, she leapt into his arms and he hugged her tightly. The black haired man told her about how much he had been missing her, and how good it was to finally see her face again. She cried, but she wasn't sad. The brunette was just so happy that she had him back. She pulled away from him and the black haired man dried away her tears and smiled gently. Zack understood, he had missed her a lot as well.

"I read your blog on Gaiabook, you've missed me a lot, haven't you?" he laughed softly. She had updated her blog for some days ago, but she wasn't aware that he had read it. Tifa had to laugh, Gaiabook. It sounded so funny when he had said those words. She knew about his troubles with computer, and had to smile when she thought about Zack and how he had struggled to find her page. He kissed her on her forehead gently, and she kissed his nose tip. It felt so good to finally see him again. If this was a dream then she didn't wish to wake up, because then he would have been gone again.

"I'm never going to leave you again, you hear me? I'll stay beside you forever!" he whispered gently into her ear as he once again caressed her. Tifa rubbed his back in circles.

"I love you" she whispered back, her hot tears sailed down her porcelain cheeks. Zack laughed softly and rubbed her back in return. She was so glad, because Zack was alive. He was with her right now. For some years ago they all said that he had died, that he had been killed. But she loved this man, more than Cloud.

"I love you too, but please don't cry. You'll make me cry too and I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop. I'll stand here crying like a baby." The dark haired man soothed and tried to stop her sobs.

Authors note: Sorry for late update, the characters are (C) Square Enix, sorry if this was a little boring, but hey Zack is back!


	17. Chapter 17

**Love Again**

Chapter 17:

We can only learn to love by loving

Tifa woke up and yawned, opened her brown eyes and saw Zack lie there beside her. He held his strong, muscular arms around her waist, and he snuggled his nose into her brown hair, she brushed her hand over his cheek and smiled as he wrinkled his nose in response. The girl then stretched like a cat, and tried to remove Zack's arm. As soon as he felt her moving he pulled her straight back to bed.

"Just two more minutes" he murmured softly, and she laughed, but she got serious again the moment she felt his fingers on her bra.

'now where's this thing… that says which cup this bra has' Zack thought as he pulled her bra away from her back. She then slapped his hand away and held it firmly against the mattress. He lost her bra and it slammed straight into her back, it hurt but she refused to tell him.

"what are you doing?" she muttered softly as she released his hand, he felt his cheeks blush and tried to avoid her eyes. But she kept staring and he felt uncomfortable. He didn't answer her, 'I want to buy you something, but it's too hard to explain what I have in my mind' Zack thought, Tifa shook her head and fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"I thought that you were sleeping" she added dryly and snuggled into her white pillow.

"I was faking" he grinned, a broad white grin. A clear sign of his victory.

"Well I felt that!" she stated the obvious, and lifted her head up from the pillow. He then felt him shaking, and then she saw that he was actually laughing. She sighed and stared into his mako enchanted eyes.

"what?" she snapped and elbowed him, he was cute for sure. But sometimes he behaved like he was a small child. But at the same time he was also macho, she knew how to protect herself for sure, but Zack was like her knight in shining armour. He would always protect her no matter what. Tifa ran her hand though his soft black spikes. It felt so good to be near him again.

"You're just so cute when you try to be angry with me!" Zack admitted and she raised one of her brown eyebrows. Cute, well she didn't think she was cute at the moment. Her hair was terrible, and so was her mood in the early morning.

"I'm not trying, I'm angry with you!" Tifa slammed her fist into the mattress, which caused him to laugh even more. And she couldn't prevent herself from grinning either, Zack had this perfect, smooth bobbling laughter. All the people she knew about smiled when they heard Zack laugh.

"No, that's impossible, no one can stay angry with me for long" Zack smiled and kissed her nose tip, she frowned and he then ruffled her hair. The brunette tried to slap his hand away but he caught her hand with his free hand.

"I love you" he added softly and ran his hand through her brown hair. Tifa turned her face away from him and sighed deeply. The dark haired man wanted to ask her if something was bothering her, but she admitted it to him before he got the chance to ask her.

"I don't believe in Love, Cloud fooled me… I don't think fate is going to be kind with me in the future either" Tifa pushed herself away from him, and was making her way out of bed. But once again Zack's hand curled around her stomach and she couldn't move. He pulled her back to bed and made her lie beside him.

"Well, we can only learn to love by loving" he thought about the words Aeris had said to him, and closed his eyes. Aeris had changed his thoughts about love, she had made him realize the beauty of two persons loving each other. And he would never ever forget her words. Now he was aware that Tifa was not Aeris, but Tifa made him feel things that he had never felt before.

"Tifa, I'm not Cloud" Zack silently added, Tifa was aware of that. The brunette had always been aware of that. But she was too sceptical, the only one she had ever loved had deceived her, left her heart broken. Did she trust Zack, could she trust Zack? Of course she could! Zack made her feel safe.

"what did you say?" she wondered, but he just shook his head and brushed her hair with his fingers over and over. He then breathed deeply in, and hugged her tightly. He had thought of her when they had been apart, she had been with him all the time. Tifa had been the very first thing that he had thought of the moment he woke up, and the very last thing the moment before he had fallen asleep. He had thought about her when he ate, and when he was hiking in the mountains.

"nothing, I'm just glad because I'm finally home" he said and kissed the top of her head, Tifa nodded and turned to face him again. She had tears in her brown eyes and her lower lip was shaking.

"And I'm glad, because you're finally home again. You're finally here with me" she smiled, and the man smiled back. But the girl didn't cry, she wasn't sad, but she wasn't happy either. Because she knew that he was in SOLDIER, and he had to leave her again soon. This would always be his home, and he would always be her boyfriend. But she had to watch him leave, and that made her kind of sad.

"Zack, could you do something for me?" the brunette added and watched him nod.

"anything, my love" Zack whispered and smiled. Some of her tears sailed down her cheeks, but Zack would dry them away.

"Could you please hold me again?" he laughed again and she elbowed him, but she had been gently this time. Tifa felt his strong arms around her again and sighed. This would be the longest five minutes of her life, but she wouldn't complain.

_Authors note: there's a strike in Norway, so I haven't been to school lately. That's why I've updated so fast. I own nothing, the characters are (C) Square Enix_


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